Old man winter arrived in Central Virginia late Sunday afternoon and likely will stick around through the remainder of today.
The region saw about four to five inches of freshly fallen powder as they left their homes yesterday morning.
Environmental Sciences Prof. Robert E. Davis said Sunday night's storm was unusual in that it came toward Virginia from the southwest in contrast to typical Virginia snowstorms, which generally form off the Atlantic coast and then travel inland.
"As a result you might have noticed this was not your typical Virginia winter snow," he said. "It was a little bit of a dryer storm so the snow was fluffier."
Now a secondary low pressure system has formed off Cape Hatteras and likely will give Charlottesville a "second punch" today, Davis said.
"There's a chance of freezing rain or snow or both [today] and it could be a significant amount of precipitation," he said. "The secondary lows are unpredictable."
Thus far, the temperamental winter weather has not caused the University any major problems, Director of Facilities Operations Chris Willis said. He added that facilities crews first began working on snow removal around 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon and have not stopped since, working constantly to maintain access to the Medical Center and student dining facilities.
The University does not appropriate an annual snow removal budget for the use of facilities management, but instead funds are acquired from the University vice president's office as storms occur, Willis said.
Grounds workers, who normally would work raking leaves or performing other routine maintenance activities, are reassigned to snow removal tasks during winter storms.
University Transit Service buses could not serve the Copeley Hill, University Heights and 14th Street neighborhoods early yesterday morning due to poorly plowed roads, but service quickly was restored by about 11:30 a.m., Parking and Transportation Director Rebecca White said.
While the situation on Grounds remained relatively benign yesterday, the snow and ice has led to hazardous driving conditions on Virginia's highways.
There have "been numerous accidents since the snow started last night," said Sgt. David Cooper of the Virginia State Police's third division, which covers a broad swath of Central Virginia, including Albemarle County.
Cooper said it is crucial that drivers lower their speeds during wintry conditions.
"You just basically want to drive like you don't have breaks," he said. "Hitting the breaks real quick -- that's what causes you to lose control and once you've lost control, it's hard to get it back."
Local residents would be well advised to remember Cooper's winter driving tips because, according to Davis, more snow in Central Virginia is almost a certainty during the next few months.
"It's not at all unusual to get March storms in Virginia that are pretty large systems," he said. "We're only halfway through the winter at this point."
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