Area could see more winter weather by Christmas

With holiday decorations already adorning the historic homes along West Main Street, the eight inches of snow that accumulated overnight created a storybook winter wonderland in Danville Saturday.

The National Weather Service reported at least 10 inches in Hurt and possibly closer to a foot in other parts of Pittsylvania County. Meteorologist Steve Keighton said Saturday morning that the storm had moved on to northern Virginia and precipitation in Danville had “pretty much ended.”

“Probably the bigger problems will come over the next couple of days and the snow melts just a little bit,” Keighton said. “Everything that’s melted will refreeze and create some black ice. Overnight and early mornings are gonna be real slick for the next couple days.”

Keighton also said another system is predicted to possibly bring freezing rain to the area Thursday night and Friday — which could make for an icy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

“That could be a problem too,” he said, “with flooding problems by late in the week. There are all kinds of issues that we’re watching for with that storm system.”

But Danville residents Joe and Paula Perez weren’t thinking about the aftereffects of the storm just yet — they spent the morning with their son Joe, 7, sledding in the Forest Hills neighborhood off West Main Street.

In the 12 years she’s lived in Danville, the last time Paula remembers a snow this big was 2000 — and her friends made sweatshirts to commemorate the occasion. Satur-day, her son and husband didn’t waste time getting outside to enjoy the winter weather.

“He helped Pop shovel the walk today,” Joe said about his son. “That was the first thing we did this morning.”

By Saturday afternoon, little Joe had taken a break from sledding, snowball fights and almost slamming into trees on his sled to warm up before an evening bonfire with the neighborhood.

“It was a little bit scary,” he joked about nearly knocking a fence over. “(I liked) when I crashed into this hill.”

The joke around Danville seems to be that the masses flock to the grocery stores to stock up on milk and bread before a storm hits. But city crews worked to clear main roads early, making some travel possible by Saturday afternoon.

“The snow usually never keeps us in,” Joe said, his aged blue pickup filled with snow, shovels and sleds in the back.

Up the street at Ballou Park, a few dozen kids, teens and adults took advantage of the wide open spaces and large hills with their multicolored sleds. Carpenter Walden, 17, seemed to be enjoying a snow day with her friends.

“We’ve just been sledding and having so much fun in the snow,” Walden said. “I can’t remember it snowing this much here for a while.”

Her aunt, Rebecca Atkinson, hosts what’s become a traditional neighborhood bonfire every year when it snows, where friends gather for hot dogs and marshmallows.

The hill in Ballou Park ended in a creek, but that didn’t bother the kids. Dedicated to the craft, a few girls built a snow-packed mound near the bottom in hopes of catching some air. A few were successful; others were more successful in catching some snow in their face.

By mid afternoon, the whole crew packed into an off-road vehicle and headed home, excited at the pros-pect of a snowy winter vacation from school.

“They’re saying if it stays cold, we could have a white Christmas,” Atkinson said.