STRONGSSVILLE – Northeast Ohio received its first winter wallop of the season the weekend before Thanksgiving. It wasn’t that big of a surprise, as forecasts predicted cold temperatures with snow for Nov. 19-20, but it was a bit of a shock to the system considering Nov. 18 saw record high temperatures in the 70s.
The city of Strongsville always anticipates winter beginning any time after the first of October so the municipality did get an almost two-month break as compared to when the fluffy precipitation could begin to fly.
Even if cold temps and snow continue through the next few weeks and months the city’s salt bins are in good shape and so is the fleet of trucks, which totals 22.
The trucks required little maintenance going into the winter of 2016-17 due to the fact the previous winter was so mild they were rarely used as compared to a normal November through March time period.
The three bins (Foltz Service Center, Interstate 71 and state Route 82, and Pearl and Sprague roads) were topped off with approximately 10,000 tons of salt at the beginning of the season.
The bins were topped off because the city was required to purchase the balance of its contract even though there was little used last season. The city committed to another 12,000 tons this year. Should winter pick up in earnest the city can order salt today.
“We really had to top the bins off as much as we could. We have to take 90 percent of it and we have to take it by April,” said Service Director Joe Walker. “Last winter was so mild and we had to buy out the remainder of our contract. We had to shove salt up as far as we could.”
The city pre-treats roads with a beet juice product called Beet Heat that helps when the snow first hits the roads. It melts the fluffy white stuff and also eliminates buildup on the roads.
“We’ve found that’s pretty effective because when we hit those streets with a plow we have that wet layer that cleans it off,” Walker said.
He adds that Beet Heat can’t be used when there is high humidity or when it rains because it is a waste of money. When temperatures dip to brutal conditions, the city mixes salt with Beet Heat.
The city of Strongsville belongs to the AccuWeather service. Walker can and has personally spoken with a meteorologist to predict the weather pattern as close and up-to-date as possible. One of the biggest challenges is not only forecasting the weather, but also forecasting how many crews to schedule.
“I can get the latest and greatest, and ask questions of forecasters, which I do quite regularly,” he said. “When there’s a big storm and I’m trying to balance manpower I’ll call and ask for the best guess on when this is going to stop. Do I need to plan on four more shifts, three more shifts or eight more shifts? We do have a couple contractors we can call to help out.”
And what is the winter outlook for the Great Lakes? Slightly above average temperatures are predicted for December through February. We might have to take the good with the bad, however. Predictions also call for slightly above normal precipitation for the same time period.