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Winter Storm Fern blanketed Fairfax County with snow Sunday before sleet began creating icier conditions, prompting officials to urge residents to stay off the roads while crews worked around the clock.
Fairfax County said the Jan. 25 storm would continue for several more hours. Although expected snowfall totals had decreased, forecasters anticipated more sleet across the region.
The National Weather Service reported that sleet began mixing with snow along the I-66 corridor by 5:30 a.m. Its latest forecast called for 8.8 inches of snow and one-tenth of an inch of ice in the immediate Washington area, including Fairfax County.
A Winter Storm Warning remained in effect until 4 a.m. Monday.
Virginia Department of Transportation crews were clearing interstates first, followed by primary and secondary roads. Traffic cameras showed disabled motorists on I-66, I-495 and other highways.
By 11 a.m., Virginia State Police had responded to 26 crashes in Northern Virginia since Saturday night. Two involved injuries. A fatal Saturday crash on I-495 in Springfield was not believed to be weather-related because it occurred before precipitation began.
Transit and county operations disrupted
All Fairfax County facilities were closed Sunday. Fairfax Connector and Fairfax City’s CUE Bus service suspended operations for the day because of the storm.
Fairfax City planned to reassess conditions before deciding whether CUE buses could operate on a modified Monday schedule or would remain suspended.
Metro kept 33 critical bus routes running for passengers traveling to hospitals and other life-sustaining facilities. The operating routes included Fairfax-area lines F1X, F20, F23, F24 and F60, while service on other routes was temporarily suspended.
Trash and recycling collections were also delayed. Fairfax County canceled Monday service and shifted the week’s collections back by one day.
The Town of Vienna planned to collect Monday’s trash and recycling with Tuesday’s routes, provided conditions were safe. The Town of Herndon canceled recycling collections for Monday and Tuesday, including Jan. 27.
Utility prepares for widespread outages
Dominion Energy reported no Northern Virginia outages as of late Sunday morning but warned that accumulating ice could cause significant and widespread power failures across Virginia and North Carolina.
The utility said ice thicker than one-quarter inch posed the greatest threat because it could damage trees, power lines and utility poles while making travel difficult for restoration crews. Northern Virginia was among the areas that could experience significant effects.
Dominion had nearly 8,000 employees, contractors and support workers prepared to respond and was adding resources. Restoration priorities would include hospitals, schools, water-treatment facilities, other essential services and areas with the most outages.
Residents were told to remain at least 30 feet from fallen power lines or poles and report them immediately. Virginia customers can call 866-366-4357.
Stores and restaurants alter plans
Numerous businesses closed Sunday, including Bards Alley in Vienna, Sho Sushi and Izakaya in McLean and Pattana Restaurant Group locations. Pattana operates Tiki Thai in Reston and the newly opened Bird’s Eye Thai at Tysons Galleria.
Wegmans announced Sunday afternoon that all its Maryland and Virginia stores except the Virginia Beach location would close for the rest of the day. The stores were tentatively scheduled to reopen at 10 a.m. Monday, depending on road and weather conditions.
Kusshi Sushi kept its Virginia and Maryland restaurants open, including locations at Reston Town Center and Pike 7 Plaza in Tysons, while offering customers a $10 discount with the code SNOWDAY.
Officials advised anyone considering a trip to a local business to confirm its operating status before leaving home.