Cold temperatures impact many in area Tuesday

Chris Riley, top, and Brandon Pennington, bottom, both water and sewer department technicians for the town of Front Royal, maneuver to clamp this 10-inch water line that ruptured during the cold weather on Tuesday. The town worked to repair two leaks on Tuesday. Rich Cooley/Daily (Buy photo)

Eric Riley, a water and sewer department technician for the Town of Front Royal, saws into the pavement at Virginia Avenue and Sixth Street to repair a water leak on Tuesday. Rich Cooley/Daily (Buy photo)

By Katie Demeria

Though relief from frigid temperatures should arrive soon, the polar vortex that swept through areas of Virginia on Tuesday left many scrambling to prevent a severe impact.

The cold hindered travel in various parts of the commonwealth -- AAA experienced a higher volume of calls than usual Tuesday morning, largely from individuals with dead batteries or cars that would not start.

Mass transit was also impacted, with a cracked Metro rail causing delays in Washington and HOV lanes on Interstate 95 opening an hour later than usual due to frozen gate motors.

During the day Tuesday, the wind chill warning issued by the National Weather Service was decreased to a wind chill advisory scheduled to end at midnight.

NWS meteorologist Bryan Jackson said the wind was still blowing throughout the day Tuesday, and would possibly continue to do so through the night, but the temperatures largely did not reach minus 20 degrees, the minimum for a wind chill warning.

"There might still be some minus 20-degree readings at higher elevations, like in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but we wanted to highlight more of what is happening in the valley itself and what will continue through the evening hours," Jackson said.

The Shenandoah Valley likely will see a south breeze today, Jackson added, causing temperatures to rise out of the single digits and into the upper 20s and 30s.

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Cold temperatures impact many in area Tuesday