Alexandria City Public Schools will change up its schedule today (Monday) ahead of potential severe weather, including thunderstorms and possible tornadoes.
ACPS will dismiss students two hours early, and all afternoon and evening classes are canceled. The change comes after several regional school systems made their early dismissal decisions on Sunday.
Alexandria is preparing to face this weekend’s looming snowstorm, which is forecasted to bring several inches of snow to the D.C. area and has prompted Gov. Abigail Spanberger to declare a state of emergency today (Thursday).
City staff are currently brining and treating “priority routes, hills, and bridges,” in preparation for the storm, which is expected to sweep the Beltway area with 5 to 10 inches of snow between Saturday night and early Monday, according to Capital Weather Gang. Earlier today, Spanberger signed an executive order mobilizing state agencies, local governments and utility partners to coordinate preparedness and response efforts.
About 250 gravestones at Douglass Memorial Cemetery will be temporarily relocated as a new stormwater improvement project gets underway next month.
Anticipated to begin Jan. 20, the project aims to replace hundreds of feet of aging stormwater pipes and regrade the historic Black cemetery’s drainage systems at 1421 Wilkes Street. Construction will prompt the temporary removal of about 250 gravestones, and will affect traffic along Wilkes Street, City Archaeologist Eleanor Breen told ALXnow.
Applications for Alexandria’s Stormwater Utility (SWU) Fee Credit Program opened today (Monday).
Property owners can apply for credits electronically or with hard copies through Feb. 15, 2026, and may be eligible for up to a 50% reduction on SWU fees “by installing eligible practices,” according to a city announcement.
Alexandria residents have until next Friday to submit feedback on the city’s developing Taylor Run Infrastructure Stabilization Project plans.
Currently at 30% design completion, the project is focused on “protecting critical, at-risk stormwater and sanitary sewer infrastructure, through a targeted, minimal intervention approach,” according to a city announcement. The full design is anticipated to be complete by September 2026, with construction commencing one month later.
An Alexandria nonprofit is preparing to send supplies to Jamaica in the wake of mass damage left by Hurricane Melissa.
Good360 is working with partner Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) and other relief agencies after the Category 5 storm made landfall this week to “assess needs on the ground and deploy pre-positioned supplies, generators, shelter materials and other essentials,” according to a release.
The National Weather Service has issued a Special Marine Warning in and around Alexandria.
The warning is in effect until 4:15 p.m., and boaters are cautioned to “seek safe harbor immediately” until a series of severe thunderstorms pass.
The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Alexandria and the surrounding area.
The warning is in effect until 5:30 p.m., and NWS says that damaging wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour could cause trees and large branches to fall.
There were no injuries after lightning struck the roof of an Alexandria home on Wednesday night (July 9).
The Alexandria Fire Department was notified at around 6:40 p.m. by the homeowner that the roof of their two-level townhouse was smoking, according to dispatches. Inside, firefighters found and extinguished smoke and fire in the attic.
The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Alexandria and the surrounding area.
The watch is in effect from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., as a large storm with 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts has been reported in Centreville and is moving northeast.
With rain expected this week in Alexandria, it might be worth a look back at how Alexandria’s battles with flooding have progressed over the years and what’s ahead.
The region was hit with intense flooding in 2019, which thrust Alexandria’s stormwater infrastructure into the limelight. Since then, the city has invested considerable time and money into upgrading that infrastructure, though there have been some frustrations at slow progress.
