Nearly a week after the year’s first snowstorm knocked out power to thousands of Northern Virginians, Dominion Power says nearly all service will be restored by the end of the day today. 

“We’re making good progress in Northern Virginia,” Rayhan Daudani, a representative for Dominion Energy, tells DCist/WAMU. “Nearly all remaining customers will be restored by the end of the day.” 

According to Dominion Energy’s outage map, more than 150 customers are currently experiencing outages in Fairfax and Prince William County. However, Daudani says that number is down from a peak of nearly 50,000 customers in Fairfax and more than 23,000 in Prince William after the first storm on Monday. The outages are more widespread in central and southern Virginia, where an estimated 18,000 customers are still powerless.

Temperatures in Fairfax County are expected to drop to 16 degrees Fahrenheit this evening, according to the National Weather Service.

Thousands more customers have regained power this morning as a result of round-the-clock efforts by our crews. ​

We're moving all available teams to rural areas in the region that saw the most severe damage, including Albemarle, Stafford, and Louisa counties. pic.twitter.com/6KRbptbnvN

— Dominion Energy (@DominionEnergy) January 7, 2022

Ahead of a second snowfall on Friday morning, Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency in Virginia. 

“Having two bouts of snow and icy weather back to back makes it more likely communities will need additional help as they continue to recover from the first round of tree-snapping wet snow and ice that we saw Monday,” Northam said in a statement on Wednesday. “While we typically have ample resources for snow storms, these back-to-back events will generate landmark winter weather that requires extra flexibility. I am grateful to the hundreds of first responders and emergency personnel who continue to work around the clock to keep Virginians safe.”

While many customers are still waiting for power, Dominion Energy said Friday that it had restored service to thousands of customers, on top of more than  330,000 customers earlier in the week.

Earlier this week, commuters in Virginia were similarly frustrated after snow and gridlock on Interstate 95 left hundreds on the road in the cold for more than 24 hours. The roads were cleared by Tuesday evening, and no injuries were reported. In an interview witha radio station WRVA on Tuesday, Northam pushed back on critics who claimed the state’s response was too slow, instead blaming drivers out on the road.

“We knew that the storm was coming. We put warnings out. Why don’t you start asking some of these individuals that were out on the highway for hours, one, did you know about the storm? Two, why did you feel it was so important to drive through such a snowstorm?” Northam said, according to the Richmond-Times Dispatch. “And three, in hindsight, do you think maybe you should have stayed home or wherever you were, rather than getting out on Interstate 95?” The governor later walked back his comments in an interview with the Washington Post, saying he’s “not blaming anybody.”

On Friday, the Fredericksburg District for the Virginia Department of Transportation– which oversees the stretch of road that saw thousands stuck in icy conditions– said that I-95 and nearby roads are clear. Still, it’s advising motorists to use caution when traveling.