Snowy Wednesday: Chesterfield public schools open, delayed, closed

Wednesday was one of those nightmare weather situations for public school systems, and Chesterfield County was no exception as it was caught in the middle of a weather system that turned nasty in a short amount of time. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported:

Yesterday's snow started about 5 a.m. and ended about 10 a.m.

But the snow fell furiously from 7 to 9 a.m., just as temperatures dropped from 32 to 26 degrees, Albright said. That meant water on roads from overnight rains quickly froze, then the fast-falling snow covered up the icy hazards.

Winds also picked up from a light breeze at 6 a.m. to snow-blowing gusts topping 30 mph at 9 a.m.

And on top of all that, it was rush hour.

Authorities in Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico reported more than 400 wrecks yesterday morning in the metro Richmond area.

Chesterfield public schools were set to go on regular schedule when the weather took a turn for the worst. At that time the decision was made to go on a two-hour delay but many high school students had already arrived at schools with early start times. The decision to close came as weather conditions deteriorated even further.