While forecasters predicted anywhere from 5 to 11 inches of snow for Loudoun County last weekend, what ended up on the ground was something less than that as the storm swung northward and clobbered the Northeast instead.
Ashburn got the heft of the winter storm in the county, with 4 inches on the ground, according to the National Weather Service. Sterling, meanwhile, got 3 inches.
Cold temperatures, however, kept the snow dry and unpackable, not so great for snowmen or snowball fights. The National Weather Service reported a low of 12 degrees Fahrenheit and a high of 23 degrees on Saturday, while Sunday saw a range from 13 to 22 degrees.
Winds that gusted up to 44 mph on Sunday as measured at Dulles Airport ensured that the snow could drift up to two feet in places, while letting the grass poke through in other spots. The highest sustained wind reported at Dulles was 32 mph.
Loudoun County schools, already primed for a cold-weather response from the Jan. 18 two-hour-delay due to "cold temperatures," ended up canceling or delaying a number of events over the weekend — including the SAT.
According to the College Board, the SAT scheduled for Jan. 22, at Loudoun Valley High School has been rescheduled for Feb. 5, at 8 a.m.
Schools also had a two-hour delay on Monday.
THE SHERIFF'S Office worked 30 accidents during the snowfall on Saturday, which lasted from about 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sheriff's spokesman Kraig Troxell said most accidents were in the minor fender-bender category.
Residents near Harper's Ferry, however, had a difficult time even without leaving their homes. A transformer overloaded on Saturday morning, leaving 148 homes without electricity. Dominion Virginia Power spokesperson Le-Ha Anderson said a second transformer that replaced the first also failed after just 45 minutes of functioning at 8:30 p.m. The failures were due to too much strain on the system, Anderson said, so the homes without power had to be restored incrementally. All power was restored by 4 p.m. on Sunday.
By press time, however, the snow should just be a memory: temperatures are expected to hit the 40s by the middle of the week.