Businesses, schools, malls and daycares closed early on Friday 12/18 in anticipation of what would become a record setting snowfall in the Roanoke Valley  in southwest Virginia.  Hundreds of cars were reported as abandoned, lining major interstates and along the hilly side roads of the valley.  Locals, holiday travelers, and recent college graduates sought refuge in local hotels, surprised by quickly accumulating dry snow which arrived earlier and accumulated faster than predicted. Mall , business, and daycare closings interrupted last minute shoppers and scheduled sales, proposed to boost profits in a last ditch effort to save the faltering economy of 2009.  At 2:45 pm on Saturday, the sky over the Blue Ridge mountains was beginning to darken, and by 3pm the tiny white flakes were falling again, promising to bury the cars even deeper.