Henrico apologizes for 'poor decision' on schools

5:13 p.m.
Virginia State Police handled 805 traffic wrecks and 769 disabled vehicles across the state from 8 a.m. Tuesday through 3:30 p.m. today.

State police reported 80 injuries but no fatalities over that period.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below)

3:20 p.m.
RICHMOND, Va. -- The Richmond region has seen at least 215 accidents since the beginning of the latest snowstorm through noon today, according to the Virginia State Police. Twenty crashes have caused injuries and 189 damaged property. State police have towed 10 vehicles. There have been 146 disabled vehicles.

Corinne Geller, State Police spokeswoman, said that western and Northern Virginia have been hardest hit by the storm, and most of the crashes around the state have occurred on secondary and rural roads.

Northern Virginia has had fewer total crashes and crashes resulting in injuries than the Richmond region, probably because fewer people have been driving in blizzard conditions there.

“For one, people can’t get out, and two, they’re heeding the advisories of police to postpone travel plans if they can wait,” Geller said.

Most of the crashes from the snowstorm have involved only one vehicle, she added.

“The biggest problem is that people are going too fast for the conditions of the road,” she said. “Especially with four-wheel drive vehicles and SUVs, people get overconfident.”

Statewide, there have been 709 crashes reported through noon today, not including 669 vehicles disabled. Seventy-two crashes have resulted in injuries and 620 in property damage.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below)

3:15 p.m.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Authorities say that snow or ice contributed to two building collapses this week in Caroline County, one of which was fatal.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below)

3:10 p.m.
RICHMOND, Va. -- Henrico County has apologized for the late call on closing schools this morning. But the question on many parents’ minds remains, "What were they thinking?"

Despite deteriorating road conditions well before 7 a.m., parents say they waited for cancellation alerts from their school divisions or on news reports that didn’t come until it was too late.

School officials in Richmond and Chesterfield and Henrico Counties each made the decision to close schools between 7:15 a.m. and 8 a.m. after the morning’s snow and wintry mix had already started. Some children were already at school and others were on the way when the decisions came down.

By mid-afternoon, Henrico’s leadership team sent out an apology to parents, staff and students for making the call so late in the morning.

"It was a poor decision on our part to begin school and we sincerely apologize," the message said, adding that staff followed weather reports that indicated slight snowfall with little to no accumulations. "We also understand the difficult situation this placed on everyone. We will continue to assess our process and do everything we can to make it better."

Henrico School Spokesman Mychael Dickerson said transportation officials went out at 5 a.m. before the bad weather hit. But conditions had changed dramatically by 7:15 a.m., when the call was made to close schools.

"Once it started, it was fast and furious," Dickerson said.

Chesterfield Superintendent Marcus J. Newsome said his administration decided about 5 a.m. that roads were safe to transport students to school. That decision was made based on calculations by the school’s transportation officials, conversations with other school officials in Richmond and Henrico and favorable weather forecasts, he said.

About 6 a.m. the weather forecast changed to show that the region would only get "a little bit of a dusting of snow", he said. By 7:15 most students had been transported to the high schools and a couple of middle schools, he said. But then transportation officials communicated to him that "road conditions were steadily deteriorating."

"The safety of staff and our students was the primary guidance in issuing the closing of schools," he said.

The weather has been unpredictable, Newsome said.

"We wish we could see into the future," he said.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below)

3 p.m.
RICHMOND, Va. -- This evening’s commute should be better than this morning's, but roads still could be treacherous in places.

Even though the afternoon sun should cause some melting, "I wouldn’t be surprised to see some areas still have slick spots around," said Keith Lynch, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

While today's storm is over here, bringing about 3.5 inches of accumulation to Richmond, wind gusts topping 40 mph could blow the snow around, possibly hindering motorists’ vision, Lynch said.

And just what you want to hear: Another snowstorm could hit the state Sunday or Monday, Lynch said.

He said it could potentially be a big storm, but, "We can’t really pin anything down right now."

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below)

RICHMOND, Va. -- Henrico County schools apologized today for making such a late closing decision this morning, calling it a "poor decision" to begin school.

"We would like to apologize for the late call this morning. It was a poor decision on our part to begin school and we sincerely apologize," the school system said in an e-mail to students, parents and staff.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below)

12:45 p.m.
RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond International Airport has seen at least 63 flight cancellations out of the 155 airline flights scheduled for today at the capital region field.

Most of those flights are between Richmond and airports in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, the airport said.

On Tuesday, 34 flights -- more than 20 percent of the day's schedule at RIC -- canceled, nearly half of which were evening arrivals, according to the airport.

Amtrak scrubbed most of its Virginia service today, including its trains through Richmond.

The massive storm has resulted in downed trees and power lines on portions of CSX freight railroad tracks south of Washington causing the continued service cancellations in Virginia and the Carolinas, the national rail passenger corporation said.

Blizzard conditions have closed Washington Dulles International Airport and canceled all flights at Washington Reagan National Airport.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below)

12:37 p.m.
RICHMOND, Va. -- Traffic on Interstate 64 east of Williamsburg is backed up in both directions with about 25 incidents along a roughly 12-mile stretch, according to Virginia State Police.

The two-way traffic jam between Williamsburg and Newport News was not caused by a multivehicle pileup, even though it looks like that was the case, said state police Sgt. Michelle A. Cotten

"It looks like one big accident, but that part right there is nothing but woods," Cotten said. "There's nowhere to go."

Vehicles are pulling off the interstate onto the shoulders, Cotten said. "They're in a hurry to get nowhere fast" and blocking the way for emergency-response vehicles, she said.

Cotten said the 25 incidents along that stretch of I-64 include both wrecks and reports of disabled vehicles.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below)

12:15 p.m.
RICHMOND, Va. -- Recent foul weather has proven hazardous to Virginia State Police troopers, a spokesman said today.

Since the weekend, 11 troopers have been struck by out-of-control vehicles, and four have suffered minor injuries, said Sgt. Thomas Molnar, a spokesman. He said several other troopers have been injured in other weather-related incidents.

Molnar reminds motorists to be on the alert stopped emergency personnel and vehicles.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below)

11:30 a.m.
RICHMOND, Va. -- A perfect combination of weather factors came together to create a nightmare commute this morning.

Heavy snow, stiff winds and quickly dropping temperatures made this morning’s storm look scary, and it made roads hazardous, said Wayne Albright, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

"All the pieces came together for a bad morning," Albright said.

Adding to the meteorlogical factors was the decision by three of the four major jurisdictions in the Richmond metropolitan area, Henrico, Chesterfield and Richmond, to make a late decision closing schools, confusing parents and further clogging roads with cars and buses backtracking to return children who had already been dropped off at schools.

Area and Virginia State Police responded to more than 150 wrecks and traffic backups were widespread, from Midlothian Turnpike in western Chesterfield to side streets downtown.

About 2 to 4 inches of snow fell across the region. The snow started about 5 a.m. and ended about 10.

But the snow came down heavily between 7 and 9 a.m. just as temperatures dropped from 32 to 26, Albright said. That meant water on roads from overnight rains quickly froze, then the fast-falling snow covered up the icy hazards

Winds also picked up from a light breeze at 6 a.m. to gusts topping 30 mph at 9 a.m.

That combination "is a very unusual thing" in this area, Albright said.

On top of all that, it was rush hour.

"If this had occurred on a Saturday morning, [traffic problems] may not have been as bad," Albright said.

The weather service Tuesday morning forecast 1 to 4 inches for today and later amended that to 1 to 2 inches. But Albright said the amount wasn’t an issue.

"It’s a light snow," he said. "It’s not necessarily the inches of snow. Sometimes it’s the combination of the variables."

The weather service had expected the snow, the winds and the falling temperatures. But the intensity of the snowfall — at a rate of roughly an inch an hour for a short period — was something of a surprise, Albright said.

Some unofficial snow totals as of mid-morning:

--2 inches, Winterpock (Chesterfield County).

--2 inches, Richmond.

--3 inches, Hanover County

--4 inches, western Henrico

--3.8 inches, Louisa

--1.5 inches, Prince George County

--4 inches, Albemarle County.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below)

9:30 a.m.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Late school closings, traffic backups and wrecks combined to make a miserable morning for thousands of parents and commuters across the Richmond region this morning.

Despite the forecast, some Richmond-area school systems seem to have been caught off guard by the snow and were scrambling this morning to close schools and return students who had already been bused or dropped off.

Snow began falling before dawn but conditions seemed to deteriorate quickly after daybreak, with traffic backups across the region and hundreds of wrecks reported by police agencies. Midlothian Turnpike near Woolridge Road and Route 288 was at a standstill, for example, with hundreds of cars backed up. Suburb-to-downtown commutes were taking upwards of an hour.

Some who were lucky enough to make it downtown without incident on the highways found getting around the streets to be a maze because of vehicles spinning their wheels in snow, ice and slush.

As of 8:45 a.m., authorities in the Richmond area were handling more than 150 reports of car crashes or disabled vehicles.
Officials in Richmond and Henrico County estimated they were each dealing with about 50 such incidents, and officials in Chesterfield County estimated they were handling more than 40. In Hanover County, authorities are working about six or seven wrecks and have handled about 20 since 6 a.m. About 20 wrecks had also been reported in Powhatan.

Virginia State Police are investigating more than 40 wrecks on interstate highways in Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover, Goochland and Powhatan, said police Sgt. Thomas J. Molnar. About four of the wrecks caused injuries.

One spouse of a Henrico County teacher said his wife left for work this morning only to find that by the time she had battled the weather and reached the school building that school had been canceled for the day. Then, she became stuck in traffic during near white-out conditions on the Powhite Expressway, he said.

"It's inconceivable to me that any reasonable person could have gone out at 6 o'clock this mornig and thought, 'we should just start school at the regular time,'" said the spouse, who asked not to be identified.

Henrico County "couldn’t apologize enough to the parents of the kids that went to school and then had to turn around and go back home," one writer commented on TimesDispatch.com. "What happens if the parents had already left for work and no one was home?"

The National Weather Service says this morning that is still expects snow accumulation of one to three inches in the Richmond region.

About two inches has already been reported in Richmond, said James Foster, a weather service forecaster. But Foster said the heaviest snow should be done within the hour, with snowfall ending in the region by about 11 a.m.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below)

9:15 a.m.
RICHMOND, Va. -- Late school closings, traffic backups and wrecks combined to make a miserable morning for thousands of parents and commuters across the Richmond region this morning.

Despite the forecast, some Richmond-area school systems seem to have been caught off guard by the snow and were scrambling this morning to close schools and return students who had already been bused or dropped off.

Snow began falling before dawn but conditions seemed to deteriorate quickly after daybreak, with traffic backups across the region and hundreds of wrecks reported by police agencies. Midlothian Turnpike near Woolridge Road and Route 288 was at a standstill, for example, with hundreds of cars backed up. Suburb-to-downtown commutes were taking upwards of an hour.

As of 8:45 a.m., authorities in the Richmond area were handling roughly 150 reports of car crashes or disabled vehicles.
Officials in Richmond and Henrico County estimated they were each dealing with about 50 such incidents, and officials in Chesterfield County estimated they were handling more than 40. In Hanover County, authorities are working about six or seven wrecks and have handled about 20 since 6 a.m. About 20 wrecks had also been reported in Powhatan.

Virginia State Police are investigating more than 40 wrecks on interstate highways in Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover, Goochland and Powhatan, said police Sgt. Thomas J. Molnar. About four of the wrecks caused injuries.

A state trooper's vehicle was rear-ended on Interstate 95 in Henrico, but no one was hurt, Molnar said. He asked motorists to look for wrecks along roadways and to give troopers plenty of room.

Henrico County schools, which earlier had planned to open on time, closed schools on short notice after elementary students had been dropped off. The same was also the case with Richmond. Chesterfield County said middle and elementary schools previously were on a two-hour delay are now closed. Schools in Goochland and Hanover counties had closed earlier. Virginia Commonwealth University also made a late closing decision.

One spouse of a Henrico County teacher said his wife left for work this morning only to find that by the time she had battled the weather and reached the school building that school had been canceled for the day. Then, she became stuck in traffic during near white-out conditions on the Powhite Expressway, he said.

"It's inconceivable to me that any reasonable person could have gone out at 6 o'clock this mornig and thought, 'we should just start school at the regular time,'" said the spouse, who asked not to be identified.

Henrico County "couldn’t apologize enough to the parents of the kids that went to school and then had to turn around and go back home," one writer commented on TimesDispatch.com. "What happens if the parents had already left for work and no one was home?"

The National Weather Service says this morning that is still expects snow accumulation of one to three inches in the Richmond region.

About two inches has already been reported in Richmond, said James Foster, a weather service forecaster. But Foster said the heaviest snow should be done within the hour, with snowfall ending in the region by about 11 a.m.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below.)

9 a.m.
RICHMOND, Va. -- Late school closings, traffic backups and wrecks combined to make a miserable morning for thousands of parents and commuters across the Richmond region this morning.

Despite the forecast, some Richmond-area school systems seem to have been caught off guard by the snow and were scrambling this morning to close schools and return students who had already been bused or dropped off.

Snow began falling before dawn but conditions seemed to deteriorate quickly after daybreak, with traffic backups across the region and numerous wrecks reported by police agencies.

As of 8:45 a.m., authorities in the Richmond area were handling roughly 150 reports of car crashes or disabled vehicles. Officials in Richmond and Henrico County estimated they were each dealing with about 50 such incidents, and officials in Chesterfield County estimated they were handling more than 40.

Henrico County, which earlier had planned to open on time, closed schools on short notice after elementary students had been dropped off. The same was also the case with Richmond. Chesterfield County said middle and elementary schools previously were on a two-hour delay are now closed. Schools in Goochland and Hanover counties had closed earlier.

One spouse of a Henrico County teacher said his wife left for work this morning only to find that by the time she had battled the weather and reached the school building that school had been canceled for the day. Then, she became stuck in traffic during near white-out conditions on the Powhite Expressway, he said.

"It's inconceivable to me that any reasonable person could have gone out at 6 o'clock this mornig and thought, 'we should just start school at the regular time,'" said the spouse, who asked not to be identified.

Henrico County "couldn’t apologize enough to the parents of the kids that went to school and then had to turn around and go back home," one writer commented on TimesDispatch.com. "What happens if the parents had already left for work and no one was home?"

The National Weather Service says this morning that is still expects snow accumulation of one to three inches in the Richmond region.

About two inches has already been reported in Richmond, said James Foster, a weather service forecaster. But Foster said the heaviest snow should be done within the hour, with snowfall ending in the region by about 11 a.m.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below.)

8:45 a.m.
RICHMOND, Va. -- The National Weather Service says this morning that is still expects snow accumulation of one to three inches in the Richmond region.

About two inches has already been reported in Richmond, said James Foster, a weather service forecaster. But Foster said the heaviest snow should be done within the hour, with snowfall ending in the region by about 11 a.m.

Despite the forecast, some Richmond-area school systems seem to have been caught off guard by the snow and were scrambling this morning to close schools and return students who had already been bused or dropped off.

Henrico County, which earlier had planned to open on time, closed schools on short notice after elementary students had been dropped off. The same was also the case with Richmond. Chesterfield County said middle and elementary schools previously were on a two-hour delay are now closed. Schools in Goochland and Hanover counties had closed earlier.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day and in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Earlier stories are posted below.)

8:20 a.m.
RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond-area school districts have been scrambling to keep up with the weather this morning. Here's the latest: Henrico County says it is closing schools this morning because of the poor weather. Richmond, which was open earlier, is now closing. Chesterfield County says middle and elementary schools that previously were on a two-hour delay are now closed. Schools in Goochland and Hanover counties are closed.

(This has been a breaking weather news update. Check back for continuous coverage throughout the day. The earlier story is posted below.)

RICHMOND, Va. -- Snow began falling before daybreak across much of the Richmond region today, where another 2 inches is possible before ending about midday.

Many school districts were opening at their usual time, but Goochland and Hanover counties closed and many private schools were starting two hours late.

The repeat shot of wintry weather is part of the same system that is bringing snow and high winds from Virginia to Connecticut today after crawling out of the Midwest.

The Virginia Department of Transportation reported icy conditions on many roads across the region, and the threat of intensifying winds gusting up to 40 mph could create poor visibility.

The Richmond area is under a wind advisory posted by the National Weather Service. A low pressure area off the Delmarva coast will intensify as it moves northeast off the New Jersey coast, bringing rapidly strengthening winds by this afternoon.

What the Richmond area is getting will pale by comparison to another blast expected in the Middle Atlantic and extending to the northeast. Blizzard warnings were in effect there and snow of 10 to 16 inches and more is expected.

(Times-Dispatch staff writers Rex Springston, Reed Williams, Holly Prestidge, Peter Bacque. Chris I. Young, Tom Kapsidelis and The Associated Press contributed to this report.)