The Public Works Department is pretreating main thoroughfares, bridges, and overpasses today because of a threat of freezing rain during the early morning hours of Friday.
The National Weather Service in Blacksburg has issued a winter weather advisory that takes effect at midnight tonight and remains in effect to 7 p.m. Friday. For the city of Danville, the threat will occur during a much shorter window of time.
“For Danville, the period from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. is the best opportunity for light freezing rain,” meteorologist Dennis Sleighter said Thursday morning. “After that, temperatures will warm up, and the precipitation will continue as a moderate rain.”
An accumulation of three one-hundredths of an inch of ice is likely in the city but will quickly dissipate. A high of 41 degrees is forecast for Danville on Friday.
However, Sleighter cautioned motorists to slow down and proceed with caution during the morning commute, especially when traveling on bridges and overpasses and untreated streets.
Public Works crews today are pretreating major thoroughfares, bridges, and overpasses with brine, which is a mixture of water and salt. The water in the brine evaporates, leaving the salt behind on the road. The salt breaks the bond between the snow and the roadway, and it, therefore, helps prevent the snow from freezing onto roads and bridges.
Residential streets are not pretreated.
A Public Works crew will monitor street conditions overnight and respond as needed.