Smaller storm tonight could drop snow, sleet

But for a slightly different set of circumstances, a storm expected to impact the area tonight could have brought significant amounts of snow and, perhaps, a repeat of Thursday morning’s slippery traffic mess.

Instead, according to Dan Proch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wakefield, Suffolk and most of Hampton Roads will get about an inch of precipitation in the form of a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain.

“The low that is bringing the weather is going to be a little bit weaker than we expected and a little bit farther south, as well,” Proch said Friday.

That probably will be good news to the many churches with Christmas programs scheduled for Sunday morning — and for the police, emergency and public works crews who put in overtime Thursday and Friday to clear Suffolk’s roads and respond to the many accidents that took place on them as a slick blanket of snow coated those roads on Thursday.

Areas more to the south and closer to the coast, however, might get hit a little harder, Proch said.

High temperatures today should be in the upper 30s or low 40s, with lows tonight dropping back into the 20s.

The low temperatures could make for treacherous driving conditions late tonight and early tomorrow morning, as the wintry mix freezes on the roadway.

During Thursday’s winter storm, Suffolk had about 2 inches of precipitation through the day and evening, but the worst problems came up during a two-and-a-half-hour period after it first started snowing that morning.

Police responded to 98 accidents through the day between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Thursday, according to Suffolk spokesperson Debbie George. None of the accidents resulted in life-threatening injuries, she said.

Things had returned mostly to normal by Friday, although the city’s schools remained closed for the second day in a row, and city offices opened two hours late.

After tonight’s stormy blast, area residents can look forward to a brief break from winter.

“After Sunday, when things clear out, it should be quiet until Tuesday,” Proch said.