VDOT News - Culpeper

CULPEPER — The window for preparations for today’s winter storm has closed. Snow is falling across much of Piedmont Virginia and travel is expected to become extremely hazardous Sunday afternoon, evening and overnight. The Virginia Department of Transportation urges drivers to stay off the roads. 

All interstates and primary roads in the Culpeper District are pretreated and about 650 pieces of equipment are responding to the storm.  Crews are mobilized to plow and treat interstates and primary roads first, then shift to secondary roads and neighborhoods.  They will work around the clock, so if you must travel, watch for heavy equipment moving through the area, and crews removing debris from roads. 

The snow is forecast to change to freezing rain late Sunday afternoon or early evening, coupled with high winds, which could result in downed trees and power lines. After that, bitterly cold temperatures will result in a refreeze, exacerbating dangerous conditions overnight into Monday morning.

Again, VDOT urges the public to stay off the roads, but for those who must travel during winter weather, be prepared with essential items, including:

• Keep at least a half-tank of fuel in the vehicle
• Carry a winter coat or blanket
• Keep winter clothing in the vehicle: Heavy shoes or boots, gloves and a hat
• A snow shovel and a bag of sand or cat litter
• Jumper cables, a flashlight and batteries, ice scraper, phone charger and map (in case your phone battery goes dead)
• Non-perishable snacks and water

Those who must be on the road during the storm should reduce speed, increase following distance and use VDOT’s free 511 tools to find out about road conditions along the route.

VDOT’s Customer Service Center is open 24 hours a day to answer questions and take reports of roadway hazards. Call 1-800-FOR-ROAD (367-7623) or contact us online at https://my.vdot.virginia.gov.

Additional information about winter-weather preparations and response can be found at www.virginiadot.org/travel/snow.asp. Local updates are posted to Twitter.com/VaDOTCulp and the district’s snow emergency webpage.

The Culpeper District includes the counties of Albemarle, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock.

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