The National Weather Service has issued another Winter Storm Warning for the Charlottesville area as a quick-hitting winter storm is forecast to hit the Mid-Atlantic region from midnight to noon on Sunday.
The warning indicates that four to six inches of heavy snow will be possible, forecasting the peak of the storm to occur between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. when “visibility may be reduced to a quarter mile and snowfall rates could reach one inch per hour.”
A Winter Storm Warning is issued when a significant combination of winter weather is ongoing or imminent.
With snow expected to be heavy and mostly fall overnight, it is likely that road conditions on Sunday will be difficult.
In a statement, the Virginia Department of Transportation urged motorists to make preparations for the storm, predicting slick conditions on Sunday and a potential refreeze on Sunday night.
“Crews will work around the clock to clear roads, beginning with interstates and primary highways, then shifting to secondary roads and neighborhoods once the main roads are passable,” the statement said.
University Emergency Management advised its readers to plan around the snow and monitor the local forecast in a tweet Saturday.
Last weekend, a coastal storm that dropped four to six inches of snow in the Charlottesville area went on to hit parts of the Northeast hard, including areas that measured more than 30 inches of snow in New Jersey.
The snowfall successfully broke a near-historic snowfall drought in Charlottesville, as McCormick Observatory recorded 4.2 inches — putting the end to a 387-day streak of having less than one inch of snow reported there.
Many students enjoyed the Jan. 31 snowfall, building snowmen, sledding and having snowball fights across Grounds. Even University President Jim Ryan got in on the fun, creating a snow sculpture contest.
Any changes to the University’s operating status due to the upcoming snow event will be posted on the @UVA_EM Twitter account and on the Academic Operations Status Board.