Worst of winter storm misses Richmond; power outages minimal, icy conditions persist
Midway through last week, a northern turn led forecasters to reduce Richmond's predicted snow tally.
On Sunday the storm moved north once again, this time sparing the city much of the freezing rain that could have wreaked havoc on power lines.
By 10 p.m. on Sunday night the precipitation had largely finished. At that time, Dominion Energy reported just 39 homes without power in the Richmond region.
Final snow totals ranged from three to five inches around the metro area.
Avoiding the worst-case scenario doesn't mean Richmonders are fully in the clear, though.
State and city officials continued to ask drivers to stay off the road early Monday morning, as low overnight temperatures are expected to create icy conditions.
The next major indicator to watch is how much of the snow melts on Monday afternoon, as temperatures approach 32 degrees for perhaps the only time this week. That, combined with sunny conditions, will be the best opportunity for snow to melt.
Richmond's airport will be open on Monday, but snow across the East Coast could limit the number of departures.
On Sunday, just four of 144 scheduled flights took off, on what was nationally the worst day for flight cancellations since March 2020, when COVID first hit the United States.
GRTC bus service will resume at 9 a.m. Monday morning, operating snow routes only.
Contact Michael Phillips at mphillips@richmonder.org.
Michael Phillips
