Ice Storm and Winter Weather in Virginia, January 14 to 15, 1999

A strong arctic cold front moved slowly southeast across the Mid-Atlantic region from late on the 13th to midday on the 15th. This front brought a thin layer of sub freezing air to the lowest levels of the atmosphere, but just off the surface warmer air moved in. A low pressure system developed on the 13th over the Tennessee Valley. The low moved into the Mid Atlantic region over the next few days, spreading precipitation region wide from early on the 13th through midday on the 15th. The precipitation started as snow but melted into rain as it fell through the warm layer of air in the mid levels of the atmosphere. Unfortunately west of the cold front the ground was below freezing during the period so the rain froze on every surface in came in contact with. This created ice accumulations of one quarter to one half inch north and west of a line from Loudoun County to Rockingham County through early afternoon on the 14th. By 9am on the 15th, ice accumulations from one quarter to nearly one inch occurred north of a line from Augusta County to Spotsylvania County. The ice this storm left behind had a large impact on the region. Hundreds of car accidents, slip and fall injuries, downed trees, and power outages were reported. A 28 vehicle pileup occurred on the Dulles Toll Road in Fairfax County at 10:30 PM on the 15th, and county officials reported 62 other accidents through sunrise on the 15th. Dozens of wrecks were reported in Clarke and Winchester Counties, including an overturned truck at the intersection of Interstates 66 and 81. In Stafford County, a jackknifed tractor trailer closed State Route 3 and 621, and Interstate 95 had to be temporarily shut down to clear fallen trees. An ambulance and fire truck ended up in a ditch after hitting ice in Shenandoah County. Loudoun County officials reported 37 accidents from 5 to 10 AM, including an accident that closed Snickersville Turnpike at Route 50 for two hours on the 15th. The icy conditions also led to over 500 pedestrian slip and fall injuries. One hospital in the Washington Metropolitan area treated over 250 patients alone with storm related injuries on the 15th. Winds gusted over 40 MPH after the precipitation ended and trees weighed down by the heavy ice accumulations fell on homes, across roads, and onto power lines across the area. Over 215,000 customers lost power from the storm across Northern Virginia, and Central Virginia reported over 6,000 additional outages. Several traffic signals across the area were out because of the power disruption through the 17th, causing additional traffic jams in the Washington D.C. suburbs.