RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A winter storm swept into southern and central Virginia on Wednesday, leaving the first several inches of an expected one-foot snowfall and keeping state police busy responding to more than 100 highway crashes.
While most of the accidents were minor and involved no injuries, police were investigating a fatal crash in Halifax on Route 501 and whether the storm played a role, spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe called a state of emergency 24 hours before the first flakes began to fall in the southside and southeast Virginia and the Roanoke area, and he urged motorists to stay off the roads if they could. The emergency declaration made available up to 300 National Guard troops to support emergency response operations.
The National Weather Service said the storm could deliver 10 to 14 inches from the North Carolina state line, moving north over a wide swath of the state, with pockets approaching 1 ½-feet of snow possible along its path along the Blue Ridge Mountains. Snowfall was to continue through the night and into early Thursday.
Meteorologist Robert Beasley in the Blacksburg weather station said snowfall in the Roanoke, Southside Virginia and parts of southwest Virginia had already received 2-4 inches, with snow falling at a rate of 1 to 2 inches an hour.
“The worst has yet to come,” he said. “This is just the edge of it.”
Snow was also reported in coastal areas, but not as heavy.
McAuliffe, a native of snowy Syracuse, N.Y., said crews with the Virginia Department of Transportation would be out in force and urged residents to stay at home so plow operators could do their jobs. More than 12,000 pieces of equipment were to be deployed.
McAuliffe said residents should prepare for the worst.
“Prepare to limit unnecessary travel during the storm, have emergency supplies on hand and be ready in the event that power in your area goes out,” he said in a statement.
Many seemed to be heeding his advice, as the capital city cleared out early and shoppers emptied store shelves of milk, eggs and bread. Colleges, universities and schools released students early.
Two of the state’s primary utilities were also bracing for what could be a wet, heavy snow and a mix of snow and ice along the coast.
Dominion Virginia Power, the state’s largest utility, was bringing in crews from Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Ohio to supplement its own crews. It was also shifting resources to regions expected to be hit hard, such as central Virginia.
“The important thing for customers to know is we will be working around the clock to make repairs and restore service,” spokesman David Botkins said.
More than 1,500 Dominion field crews were at the ready to respond to downed lines and power outages, he said.
Botkins said a winter storm on Feb. 5, 2010, left 341,000 customers without power.
Appalachian Power Co. said it moved about 60 line mechanics into Roanoke, which could see up to 14 inches of snow before the storm is over. Lynchburg and Martinsville are also forecast to receive 10 to 14 inches of snow, and both are within Appalachian Power’s service area.
Triple A warned that its emergency roadside teams would only respond to hazardous situations, not people stranded in their vehicles or in similar situations.
The Salem Division of the state police responded to 85 crashes since 2 p.m. as the snow began to pile up. State police were also kept busy in southwest Virginia and the Richmond area as the storm moved north.
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Steve Szkotak can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sszkotakap.
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