WeatherFanatics: Officials Stockpile Snow Removal Supplies Ahead of Winter

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Officials Stockpile Snow Removal Supplies Ahead of Winter

By Michael Kuhne, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

October 30,2014; 10:43PM,EDT

Following last year's harsh winter season, which shattered snowfall, temperature and maintenance expenditure records across the country, transportation departments have been amassing supplies in preparation of winter's icy return.
While some areas in the north-central United States may see a below-average snowfall total this year, higher-than-normal amounts are expected to fall upon the Northeast, coupled with a return of the bitter cold air that resulted from last season's polar vortex, according to the AccuWeather.com 2014-15 Winter Forecast.
"We'll see that happening in mid-January into February, but again, it's not going to be the same type of situation as we saw last year, not as persistent," AccuWeather.com Expert Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok said. "The cold of last season was extreme because it was so persistent. We saw readings that we haven't seen in a long time: 15- to 20-below-zero readings."
Higher-than-normal snowfall totals are forecast west of the I-95 corridor.
"Places like Harrisburg, down to Hagerstown getting into the mountains, the Appalachians, I think that's where you're going to see your bigger, heavier amounts," Pastelok said.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Richard Kirkpatrick said the 2014-15 budget is currently set at $203 million, $14 million more than last year's budget.
"PennDOT used [more than 1.2 million] tons of salt, the highest amount in at least 16 years," Kirkpatrick said, referring to statewide total for the 2013-14 winter season. "We also used 861,003 tons of anti-skid materials, again the highest amount in the last 16 years."
Last winter cost the department a total of $259 million, and severely damaged much of the state's infrastructure.
"Because of the long-range transportation plan that Governor Tom Corbett signed in November 2013 (Act 89), Pennsylvania was able to quickly repair severe pavement damage caused by last winter's extreme weather," he said.
The plan gave PennDOT $800 million more than it would have otherwise had in 2014, allowing the department to start work on improving more than 1,600 miles of roads and 83 bridges.
"A prime example of the renewal is on City Avenue in Philadelphia, which was ravaged by winter," he said. "The $3 million improvement project for five miles of the road finished two weeks early in June. PennDOT has the resources to deal with harsh weather and continue improvements to the road and bridge system."
During the summer and early fall, the transportation department received deliveries totaling 63,751 tons of salt for the five-county Philadelphia region. An additional 27,049 tons are scheduled to be received in the coming weeks.
"PennDOT's Philadelphia region, District 6, will have 108,000 tons of salt stockpiled throughout the region for the start of the winter season," Kirkpatrick said, adding that an additional 17,000 remained in stock from last season.
Areas across Michigan including the city of Detroit, also suffered severely winter battered roadways.
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Detroit was slammed with 94.9 inches of snow last season, the snowiest winter in the city's history, dating back to the 1880-81 season when snowfall information was first recorded.
"We used 645,860 tons of salt last year statewide on state highways, freeways and interstates, a 28 percent increase over the previous winter," Michigan Department of Transportation Communications Representative Diane Cross said. "We spent $31.73 million on salt, a 13 percent increase over the year before."
The 2014-15 season will offer a closer-than-normal snowfall in the Detroit area, according to the AccuWeather.com winter forecast.
"Our winter maintenance budget has not yet been set, but will be shortly," Cross said, adding that last year's winter maintenance budget was $88 million, but total expenditures ended up about $136 million.
"Even with a one-time appropriation from the legislature of $39 million to fill the winter maintenance budget hole, the harsh winter still cut into our non-winter maintenance program, she said. "Our fiscal year goes from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, so winter maintenance is pretty much our first priority at the beginning of each fiscal year."
While the winter budget is still based on the five-year average, additional funds will increase the total, which serves to help balance the expenses associated with an unpredictable winter, she added.
"[Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's] 2014-15 budget has included an additional $10 million for maintenance activities, which would include both winter maintenance and non-winter activities, such as pothole patching," Cross said.
Despite the planning, Cross said the department has other concerned when stockpiling salt.
"One chief concern this coming winter is the rising cost of road salt," she said. "Last year, we paid an average of $44.99 per ton for salt, and this year the average price is $65.81 per ton, an increase of 46 percent. If we used the same amount of salt again this year, we'd spend about $42 million in salt, up from $31.73 million. That has the potential to consume a huge portion of our winter budget."

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