The total snowfall from the first major winter storm of the season topped out at just over a foot in some areas of Williamsburg, and averaged about 5 to 6 inches in Virginia Beach and Norfolk, according to Tim Gingrich of the National Weather Service in Wakefield, Va.
Around 6:15 p.m. Saturday night, Gingrich said the storm was making its way off the coast, leaving only small flurries in the Norfolk and Virginia Beach oceanfront area.
The storm had left Williamsburg and Virginia Peninsula about an hour earlier, he said. Williamsburg averaged about 10 to 12 inches of snow.
Virginia State Police responded to 527 traffic crashes and 686 disabled vehicles statewide, according to a state police news release at 6:15 p.m. Of the total incidents, 120 crashes and 292 disabled vehicles were in the Hampton Roads region, which includes Hampton Roads, Tidewater, the Eastern Shore, Williamsburg, Franklin and Emporia.
Only one accident, in Green County, resulted in a fatality, the release said.
There were no major power outages in the Historic Triangle, but on the Southside, a downed power line knocked out power to over 6,100 Dominion Power customers in the Witchduck and Princess Anne areas of Virginia Beach midday Saturday, Dominion spokeswoman Daisy Pridgen said.
Dominion crews were able to restore power to those 6,100 customers by 4:30 p.m., but another 2,900 lost power around the same time of the restoration due to a second downed line in the Greenwell, Bayside and Kings Grant area, Pridgen said.
At 6:30 p.m., Pridgen said Dominon crews were still working to restore power to those 2,900 customers.
“It’s been pretty good so far because our crews have been able to keep up with it,” Pridgen said.
VDOT was working through Saturday night to clear roads and highways in the Hampton Roads region, according to a VDOT tweet.
The National Weather Service cancelled the winter storm warning that was in effect throughout the day Saturday, but maintained a winter weather advisory for both the Virginia Peninsula and the Southside until 10 a.m. Sunday, according to a National Weather Service alert.
The advisory listed snow, ice-covered roads and dangerous wind chills as potential hazards overnight Saturday. A winter weather advisory means snow and ice will cause travel difficulties.
Overnight temperatures into Sunday morning were expected to drop to between 10 and 15 degrees, with wind chills near zero, the release said.
