A rainy Sunday led to a slick Monday morning commute throughout Northern Virginia.
Virginia State Police were called to multiple crashes on area highways.
“The Bulk of crashes began around 5:17 a.m. – pretty much in line with the morning rush hour. Since that one through 10 a.m… Virginia State Police have responded to 35 traffic crashes across the Fairfax Division – Loudoun/Fairfax/Prince William/Arlington/Alexandria.
The majority have been on I-66 and I-95 and have involved only damage to vehicles where vehicles slid off the road into guardrails, cement barriers, and ditches.”
— Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller
Road conditions were also treacherous on local roads too. A truck crashed into an OmniRide Express bus operating in Route 1 and Wayside Drive near Dumfries, about 7:20 a.m. No serious injuries were reported.
The icy conditions caught many off of their guard. The National Weather Service in Sterling told PLN it does not issue freeze warnings or watches under the conditions we saw Sunday night and early Monday.
“The rain was already on the ground, so this wouldn’t be something we would issue a warning for,” explained Ray Martin, a forecaster at the National Weather Service office in Sterling.
However, the weather service did issue a late Sunday night statement that icy conditions were possible on area roadways.
In the wake of the earlier system, some patchy fog is possible tonight with areas of freezing drizzle along the Allegheny Front. Through Thursday, highs will stay in the 40s with most locations staying dry. Brisk NW winds are expected by Wed as a system passes by to the south. pic.twitter.com/6f2zkohZ7x
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) January 4, 2021
Temperatures dropped below freezing early Tuesday in the suburbs. The low temperature at Dulles Airport was 28, while temperatures hovered above freezing at Regan Washington National Airport, where the temperature dipped to 34 degrees.
Looking ahead to tonight and into tomorrow morning, showers are expected to pass through our region, and that could lead to more icy conditions on area roadways on Tuesday morning, said Martin.
Forecasters also have their eyes on a potential snowstorm that could affect Virginia on Friday. There’s a 20% chance of snow for the region, which is not great but will give hope to snow lovers.
“This storm will likely stay to the south,” said Martin. “If it does push north, there could be a few inches of snow, but it’s a low probability.
