Eastern Shore sees significant snowfall, blizzard warning conditions with storm; few outages reported

EXMORE, Va. (WAVY) — The Eastern Shore woke up to blizzard warning conditions on Saturday as nearly a foot of snow fell in some of the northern sections of the peninsula.

The snow came in overnight and stopped around noon in northern Accomack, though a blizzard warning was still in effect until 7 p.m. as gust up to 50 mph were still expected.

There was still heavy snow on Route 13 as of Saturday morning, but plows were out working to clear the roads. There were plenty of snow drifts from the wind reported on back roads.

Totals ranged from as little as 4 inches at the tip of the Shore in Capeville to about 11 inches in places like Bloxom. Here were some of the totals reported:

• Bloxom — 11 inches
• Wallops — about 9 inches
• Hunting Creek — 9 inches
• Gargatha — 9 inches
• Exmore — about 8-9 inches
• Capeville — 4 inches

Few people had lost power due to the storm, and as of 3 p.m. fewer than 100 people were without power, A&N Electric reports. About 230 were without power around 8 a.m.

The National Guard was on standby to help Shore residents. This is the fourth time in just over three weeks the Guard has deployed for winter storm response.

15 airmen and soldiers arrived in the area late Friday afternoon and linked up with local authorities Saturday morning.

Officials from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management requested high mobility transportation and debris reduction capabilities.

“We are incredibly proud of how quickly and safely our personnel answered the call, and we also appreciate all the support happening behind the scenes to get our personnel in place,” said Brig. Gen. James W. Ring, the VNG Director of the Joint Staff.

Additional soldiers, airmen and members of the Virginia Defense Force are also on duty to provide logistics, administrative and operations center support in the Richmond area.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s emergency declaration authorized the VNG to bring personnel on state active duty to support state and local authorities in advance of possible winter weather.