(UPDATE AT 5:30 P.M.) Danville today avoided the worst of the wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain that was forecast. The National Weather Service in Blacksburg reports the city received a quarter inch of ice accumulation overnight and through the day. That amount was about half of the total projected. The lower amount is attributed to less moisture developing than expected.
Meteorologist Dennis Sleighter says the main precipitation has exited the area. However, a narrow band of precipitation is expected to push through overnight. This precipitation will be in the form of freezing rain and freezing drizzle. An additional ice accumulation of less than a tenth of an inch is forecast.
Public Works crews will monitor street conditions overnight.
Today, tree and brush crews from the Public Works, Fire and Police departments responded this morning to a fallen tree that blocked all four lanes of Westover Drive at Fox Hollow Drive.
Utility crews responded today to three substation feeders that went offline. All three are back in service. The largest outage was from a Schoolfield substation feeder that serves 1,200 customers in the city along portions of Memorial Drive, Lanier Avenue, Park Avenue, Bishop Road, and then across the river on Piedmont Drive from the Robertson Bridge to Mount Cross Road. A portion of Westover Drive and other streets in these areas also were affected. The feeder went out of service at 9:47 a.m. and came back online at 12:18 p.m. The cause was fallen trees on Piedmont Drive near Park Avenue and Westover Drive.
A feeder at the Tunstall substation feeder that serves the Sharon community of Pittsylvania County was out of service from 10:10 a.m. to 12:01 p.m. The cause was a fallen tree on Inman Road. A feeder at the West Fork substation that primarily serves Oak Hill Road, a portion of Inman Road, and Stony Mill School Road was out of service from 2:07 p.m. to 2:33 p.m.
An outage was reported today at Fairfield Park off Franklin Turnpike. Crews also made progress in restoring the remaining power outages from last weekend's storm.
Our utility crews continue to work 16-hour shifts. They were assisted today by crews from the South Carolina utility Santee Cooper, which serves the Myrtle Beach area.
At this time, Danville Transit is planning to offer Reserve A Ride service on Friday morning beginning at 4 a.m. Transit staff will monitor street conditions overnight and will delay service if warranted.
THURSDAY MORNING REPORT
The city received light freezing rain overnight. Streets are wet, but there could be icy patches, so motorists are urged to be cautious. Public Works Department crews were on duty overnight and treated bridges and overpasses. Danville Transit began regular operations at 6 a.m. No additional power outages have been reported.