Frigid temps, snow to remain

Published 10:29 pm Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Playful: A nearly one-year-old chocolate Labrador Retriever named Ava enjoys the first snow of 2014 while carrying a bone in her mouth on Appaloosa Court among the Saddlebrook Estates. (Titus Mohler/Suffolk News-Herald)

Playful: A nearly one-year-old chocolate Labrador Retriever named Ava enjoys the first snow of 2014 while carrying a bone in her mouth on Appaloosa Court among the Saddlebrook Estates. (Titus Mohler/Suffolk News-Herald)

After a day of playing in the snow, Suffolk residents are preparing for it to stay awhile.

With the high temperature not expected to be much above freezing until Saturday, folks might get tired of seeing the snow before it finally melts this weekend.

It was a novelty on Wednesday, though, as the first significant snowfall of the year brought children and adults alike, along with their pets, outside for snowball fights, building snowmen and making snow angels.

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About 2 to 4 inches of snow fell beginning about 5 p.m. Tuesday and lasting through the early morning hours. The wind chill was at -1 Fahrenheit early Wednesday morning.

Tracy Agnew/Suffolk News-Herald Vicki Dobbins shovels snow from the sidewalk at the parsonage of St. Mary of the Presentation Catholic Church on Wednesday morning.

Vicki Dobbins shovels snow from the sidewalk at the parsonage of St. Mary of the Presentation Catholic Church on Wednesday morning. (Tracy Agnew/Suffolk News-Herald)

The situation on some roads was treacherous, despite Public Works crews pre-treating bridges, overpasses and on-ramps with a brine solution prior to the onset of snow, according to city spokeswoman Diana Klink. Public Works crews began spreading abrasives and plowing primary roadways, moving on to secondary roadways later in the day.

However, snow was blowing back across some roads, she added, making it difficult to keep up with conditions throughout the city.

She did not know about the number of weather-related accidents. At about 8:55 a.m., a Toyota pickup struck the side of Dr. Jeffrey Robertson’s office in the 400 block of North Main Street. The male driver had an appointment at the optometrist’s office. There were no injuries, and damage to the building was “basically cosmetic,” Klink said. Charges are pending.

If the children didn’t get tired of playing in the snow Wednesday, they’ll get another go at it. Suffolk Public Schools announced Wednesday afternoon they would be closed on Thursday.

Exams originally scheduled for Thursday will be rescheduled for Tuesday, which now becomes an early dismissal day for all students.

Exams originally scheduled for Wednesday are rescheduled for Monday, which remains an early dismissal day.

When schools are closed, before- and after-school programs are closed.

Nansemond-Suffolk Academy also announced it will be closed Thursday.

In addition, the city will open on a two-hour delay for Beta personnel, according to a press release from the city.

Look on Page 8 for some of our favorite reader-submitted photos from Suffolk’s first snow day of the year, and check out our Facebook page for a full gallery.