Update: 9 a.m. Sunday

Winter Storm Jonas has finally ended and leaves Lunenburg County with up to 9 1/2 inches of snow in snow areas.

According to weather watcher Jackie Newman, Meherrin accumulated a total of 9 1/2 inches of snow. Wanda Fix reports about 9 inches of snow in Victoria.

Currently there are no outages reported by Dominion Virginia Power or Southside Electric in Lunenburg County.

 

Update: 7 p.m. Saturday

Lunenburg County is experiencing rough winds and very little snowfall at the moment.

As outdoor temperatures continue to drop, it remains a relatively quiet afternoon in Southside Virginia.

“As evening sets in and temperatures begin to drop, Virginians are reminded to stay safe by staying indoors. Road conditions remain hazardous with drifting snow and white-out conditions across much of the state,” said Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.

At around 5 p.m. across the state, State Police units were responding to 17 traffic crashes and 63 disabled vehicles.

Currently, state police said there have been weather-related deaths across the state. Two of those deaths were the result of hypothermia.

In addition to staying off of the roads, police are also urging individuals to stay indoors to avoid freezing temperatures and dangers associated with drifting snow.

Currently there are no outages reported by Southside Electric Cooperative, Dominion Virginia Power or Central Virginia Electric Cooperative in Lunenburg.

 

Update: 5 p.m. Saturday

Gusty winds and snowfall continue in Lunenburg County.

According to weather watcher Jackie Newman, Meherrin has accumulated 9 1/2 inches of snow.

“Everything is going OK,” Rodney Newton, chief of the Victoria Fire and Rescue Department and administrator of the Kenbridge Rescue Squad said late Saturday afternoon. “Still getting snow. We have had a few EMS calls but nothing significant.”

Crews have treated and plowed all primary routes in Lunenburg County, said VDOT spokeswoman Jessica Cowardin. “Both primary and secondary routes remain in moderate condition. Crews are constantly monitoring road conditions and plowing roadways.”

Eight inches of snow has been recorded, she said. 

“Motorists are advised to stay off of all roadways.”

The power outage report for Saturday evening is an optimistic one. Currently there are no outages reported by Southside Electric Cooperative, Dominion Virginia Power or Central Virginia Electric Cooperative in Lunenburg.

 

 

Update: 3 p.m. Saturday

Gusty winds and snowfall continue in Lunenburg County.

According to weather watcher Wanda Fix, Victoria has accumulated 8 inches of snow during Winter Storm Jonas thus far.

There have been no weather outages reported in the county, according to Dominion Power and Southside Electric.

Stay with The Dispatch for another update at 5 p.m.

 

Update: 1 p.m. Saturday

Winds continue to make it hard for VDOT to keep plowed roads clean for residents. The snow continues to fall and looks as if it isn’t stopping soon, according to Jackie Newman in Meherrin who says the snow has almost reached 8 inches in her area.

Routes 40 and 49 are seeing attention from VDOT workers, however cover quickly after being plowed.

There has been no outages in the county thus far, according to Southside Electric and Dominion Power.

Southside Virginians continues to keep accidents to a minimum in spite of the snowfall continuing to come down at a rapid rate.

From midnight until 10 a.m., Division Three responded to around 13 traffic crashes and 25 disabled vehicles, according to Virginia State Police.

As of 11:30 a.m. this morning, state police across the Commonwealth were on the scene of 39 traffic accidents and 27 disabled vehicles, they said.

“Virginia State Police continue to respond to multiple calls this morning across the Commonwealth for disabled and crashed vehicles. Road conditions continue to be treacherous and Virginians are still advised to stay off the roads,” said State Police Public Relations Director Corinne Geller.

She said several more inches have been predicted, thus making travel dangerous.  

 

 

Update: 11 a.m. Saturday

The snow and wind have picked up in Lunenburg. Gusty winds are now blowing snow back into roads making VDOT’s earlier plowing non-recognizable.

According to weather watcher Jackie Newman, Meherrin still has 7 1/2 inches of snow on the ground, and it is still snowing in large flakes.

Stay with The Dispatch for another two-hour update at 1 p.m.

 

Update: 9 a.m. Saturday

Lunenburg County experienced no stop in snowfall overnight and continues to see flakes steadily fall this morning.

Reports of 7 1/2 inches have been reported all around the county.

By 7 a.m. on Saturday, Virginia State Police were on the scene of 17 crashes and 25 disabled vehicles, according to state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.

However, the majority of incidents continue to occur in the Hamptons Roads, Metro-Richmond and Northern Virginia areas.

Geller said the most common emergency calls overnight were for disabled vehicles. During the night hours, statewide statistics indicated that state troopers responded to 145 accidents and 229 disabled vehicles.

Geller said, “as folks wake up to another day of snow and frigid temperatures, they are reminded to still avoid traveling on Virginia’s highways. Winds have now picked up causing snow to drift and pile up across interstates and primary routes, which make driving even more dangerous. State police ask Virginians to remain patient one more day until the storm has moved out and roads are cleared and safe for travel.”

At this time, only one weather-related fatality has been reported in the state, she said.

 

Update: 9:30 p.m. Friday

Lunenburg County’s snowfall continues into the night. The slow pace of snow has produced over 7 inches of snow in most areas.

“Lunenburg roads are currently in what we classify as ‘moderate’ conditions, meaning that snow or ice covers portions of the roadway,” said Lindsay LeGrant, VDOT spokeswoman.  “We’re asking drivers to stay off of the roads for their safety and to give our crews room to work.”

She said VDOT crews  were  working around the clock in 12-hour shifts to combat the effects of the storm. “We’re also asking residents who live in neighborhoods to park vehicles off of subdivision streets, as our plows are sometimes too wide for streets lined with parked cars. The plows are approximately 11 feet wide.”

Accidents across Southside Virginia continue to remain relatively low; however, dropping temperatures could create extremely hazardous road conditions.

According to Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller, “as temperatures drop overnight, and snow and sleet continue to blanket the state. State police and VDOT are still stressing to Virginians not to travel unless absolutely necessary. Highways will only get worse during the overnight hours and any travel will be treacherous, no matter how slow one drives.”

A press release from the State Police said units have responded to 841 weather-related accidents and 607 disabled vehicles across the state.

Division Three has seen a slight increase in accidents, totaling 56 crashes and 36 disabled vehicles.

State police said at 7:15 p.m., Virginia State Trooper were currently on the scene of 33 crashes and 15 disabled vehicles.

 

Tonight’s updates stop now, but will start back tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

 

Update: 7:30 p.m. Friday

The snow and wind are picking up in Lunenburg County. According to weather watcher Jackie Newman, Meherrin just reached 7 inches of snow.

Stay with The Dispatch for today’s last update at 9:30 p.m.

 

Update: 5:30 p.m. Friday

Snowfall has slowed to almost a halt in Lunenburg County. According to weather watcher Wanda Fix, Victoria has accumulated an 6 inches of snow.

“Traffic has been light much of the day due to employees using leave or businesses, schools and agencies being closed and this has allowed Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) crews in the 10-county Lynchburg District to safely and confidently work from the onset of this extended winter storm,” said VDOT spokeswoman Paula Jones.

“Snow totals up to 7 inches have been reported in portions of the district in the south-central part of the commonwealth. Roads across the district are snow-covered as the winter precipitation continues to fall …,” she said. “Dangerous driving conditions are likely during this event and travel is not encouraged. Visibility may also be an issue due to blowing and drifting snow and fast rates of precipitation.”

According to Virginia State Police Public Relations Director Corinne Geller, “as of 4:30 p.m. Friday, Virginia Troopers are currently on scene of 96 crashes and 23 disabled vehicles statewide.”

Division Three reports a total of 49 traffic crashes across the area and 25 disabled vehicles according to State Police.

“State police and VDOT are still stressing to Virginians not to travel unless absolutely necessary,” Geller said.

To stay up to date on current road conditions, dial 511 or visit www.511virginia.org.  

Stay with The Dispatch for two-hour updates.

 

Update: 3:30 p.m. Friday

Snowfall has picked up in Lunenburg and is now coming down quickly. According to weather watchers Wanda Fix and Penny Gray, Victoria has accumulated an 6 inches of snow.

Stay with The Dispatch for two-hour updates.

 

Update: 1:30 p.m. Friday

The snow has picked up pace in Lunenburg County, catching up to snowfall levels in surrounding areas. Weather watcher Kevin Davis near Rehoboth reports over 3 inches in Pleasant Grove. Jackie Newman in Meherrin also noted 3 inches of snow in her area.

Lunenburg County officials say that they are monitoring the weather, and if power goes out they may have to open a shelter for those without power.

As of Friday around 11 a.m., Virginia State Police have reported a total of 10 traffic crashes and 6 disabled vehicles across Division Three.

Division three includes the counties of Charlotte, Prince Edward, Lunenburg, Buckingham, Cumberland, Mecklenburg, Halifax, Appomattox, Campbell, Amherst, Fluvanna, Augusta, Albemarle, Greene and Nelson.

According to State Police Public Relations Director Corinne Geller, from around Friday at midnight through 11 a.m., there have been a total of 68 crashes statewide and 174 disabled vehicles.

“Virginia State Police are still advising Virginians not to drive if at all possible,” she said.

No fatalities have been reported as of this time.

 

Update: 11:30 a.m. Friday

Snow continues to fall slowly in Lunenburg County. According to weather watcher Wanda Fix, Victoria has accumulated an inch of snow. Jackie Newman reports that Meherrin has 1.5 inches of snow at the moment.

 

Update: 9:30 a.m. Friday

Snow is falling in Lunenburg County. According to weather watchers Wanda Fix in Victoria and Jackie Newman in Meherrin large flakes are coming down.