With lower temperatures approaching in the coming months, the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Northern Virginia District Office is advising residents and travelers to be prepared, with the district historically having the most snowfall in January and February historically and the looming specter of a winter storm that paralyzed Interstate 95 a few years ago.

On Jan. 3-4, 2022, Virginia experienced a complete traffic shutdown, primarily in the counties of Spotsylvania and Stafford, which made headlines worldwide and left vehicles trapped on the highway during a severe snowstorm. The shutdown also impacted access points for travelers and forced some drivers to abandon their vehicles with little to no gasoline. The debacle’s impacts extended to Culpeper and further into Northern Virginia.

Lauren Mollerup, maintenance engineer for the VDOT Northern Virginia District, said at a Monday briefing the district is prepared for the upcoming season with a fleet of 3,500 pieces of equipment, most of which is contracted, and 120,000 tons of salt. The office will continue working with the National Weather Service and Iteris to plan for snowfall mitigation.

She said the district, weather services and other partners will continue advising Virginians about snow storms beforehand and pre-treat roads as necessary. While VDOT is responsible for clearing interstates and some other roadways, Mollerup recommended Virginians learn who is responsible for clearing their area’s travel routes by contacting their local government or transportation agency.

“Even if you make the best plan, sometimes it just doesn’t work out,” Mollerup said, “People have to be aware, you’ve got to be ready, you’ve got to do all these things and then hope for the best in some cases.”

During the 2022 snow storm, Mollerup said the district was under a near-max level advisory level and the snow was an overwhelming challenge for the area’s VDOT team. Mollerup said members from her district in Northern Virginia tried to assist, but even for them, the storm’s impact was overwhelming.

According to an Aug. 12, 2022 audit, the Office of the Virginia Inspector General found that the commonwealth needed to apply lessons learned from a similar snow event on Interstate 81 on Dec. 9-10, 2018. The inspector general also found that the commonwealth had no hazard-specific snowfall plan and needed to communicate more effectively to the public to avoid travel on I-95 or provide accurate information.

The inspector general recommended the commonwealth conduct snow-related disaster response and recovery exercises and advised the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) to facilitate communication training for VDOT, VDEM and Virginia State Police.

The state is forecast to have an overall milder winter according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s latest outlook, but snowfall is a distinct possibility. Mollerup said it could take several days for the agency to clear up to six inches of snow or more, a timeframe that can vary based on the dryness and weight of the snow, and available resources. 

Chris Strong, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Virginia, said because of the “unpredictability” of winter weather, VDOT’s partnership with the weather service and other groups is essential for the commonwealth to reach travelers during inclement weather.

“Being able to reach the right people at the right time so the good people at VDOT and others can mitigate weather threats is really what it’s all about,” Strong said. “It doesn’t matter if we have a perfect forecast or not. It matters whether the end results [are] good.”