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Snow hits, hampers travel: Blowing snow seen as next problem for roads |
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Monday, 28 December 2009 |
 A Wapakoneta Electric Department worker uses a small snow plow to clear the parking lot at its building on Industrial Drive this morning. Snow fall varied from 2.6 inches to more than 5 inches in the county. Staff photo/William Laney By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
City, county and township crews hit roadways Sunday evening after a winter snow blanketed the area with a cold, wet snow of approximately 2 inches making streets hazardous.
The Sunday snow, which started in mid-afternoon and lasted until approximately 10 p.m., was the second snow in the past 10 days to prompt crews to plow snow and spread salt on roadways.
Snow fall ranges from approximately 3 inches in Minster to 4 to 5 inches in the northeast part of the county, a weather observer says.
Wapakoneta weather observer Dan Dietz reported 2.6 inches of snow.
Wapa-koneta Safety-Service Director Bill Rains said Public Works Superintendent Meril Simpson had city crews plowing Sunday evening and again early this morning. Crews spread extra salt at intersections where roadways became slick and potentially dangerous.
“I saw Meril briefly this morning but he wanted to get back out plowing the streets so I didn’t get to talk to him, but I do know crews were out again early this morning,” Rains told the Wapakoneta Daily News. “When I came to work this morning, the roads were not as bad as when I left the here (Wapakoneta City Administration Building) at 5 p.m. yesterday (Sunday) during the middle of the snow storm.
“I did not have any problems on the roads or at any of the intersections, all things being considered,” the safety-service director said of his commute this morning. “It was a wet snow and temperatures were falling so it made for slick conditions Sunday, but they are much better now.”
Wapakoneta Police Chief Russ Hunlock told Rains of two accidents he attributed to the weather. Dispatcher Nicole Sawmiller also noted three reports of vehicles having slid off the road.
Auglaize County Engineer Doug Reinhart said he dispatched crews Sunday morning to pretreat overpasses, intersections and railroad crossings prior to the storm and again in the afternoon during the storm. Crews went out again at 4:30 this morning.
“The scenario was the wet pavement and the temperature drop overnight froze everything again,” Reinhart said. “The blowing snow is going to be a problem for the next couple of days.
“People need to realize if we treated everything then the roadway and ice would get a little wet on top and catch the blowing snow and create more ice and thus make the roadways that much more hazardous,” he said.
Reinhart received reports that winds are to persist between 20 mph and 30 mph for the next couple of days at which time the next storm is supposed to hit.
“The roads are passable, there is some ice underneath, but they are passable,” Reinhart said. “Motorists want to be careful, take their time and give themselves more time to stop or start to slow down and stop earlier than they normally would at an intersection.”
He said if the sun comes out for even a couple of hours that it would help clear some of the roads of snow and ice.
Auglaize County Sheriff Al Solomon reported five vehicle mishaps, vehicle crashes or vehicles ending up in county ditches or off the roadway.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 December 2009 )
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