Weather service forecasts mixed bag of precipitation Tuesday

It's not going to be pretty, folks. Tuesday's weather forecast has all the makings of a big wintry mess. A low-pressure system over the Gulf Coast is moving toward Virginia, and light snow is expected to start falling in the Richmond region around midnight tonight. By dawn Tuesday, the snow will turn to sleet, which will progress into a mixture of sleet and freezing rain by late morning or early afternoon, said Mike Montefusco, a forecaster with the National Weather Service Office in Wakefield. The finicky weather will likely make for bad driving conditions. "Travel is not going to be the most easy thing Tuesday morning," Montefusco said. He was predicting 1 to 3 inches of "a mixed bag of precipitation" before the storm moves north by nightfall Tuesday. The Virginia Department of Transportation began preparing roads with anti-icing chemicals Sunday in preparation for bad weather around rush hour tonight, said Dawn Eischen, spokeswoman for the Richmond district. She said crews would be working through the night. She said the brine solution prevents snow or ice from sticking to the road, which doesn't keep cars from slipping if they hit ice but makes it easier for crews to plow snow off the roadway. "When the storm starts, our crews will start working 12-hour shifts until the storm clears or we have the major routes cleared," she said.