VIDEO: Madison Gets Ready for Snow 6pm 12/1/10

VIDEO: Winter Storm 10pm 12/3/2010

UPDATED Saturday, December 4, 2010 --- 7:40 a.m.

From the City of Madison:

Snow Emergency to be Declared for tonight, Saturday, December 4th and for Sunday night, December 5th.

About 3" of snow has fallen in Madison during the overnight hours and about another inch is expected before it ends around noon today.

30 salt crews and 2 additional sanding crews have been out since the snow began falling last evening around 9:00 pm. Currently the main streets or salt routes have had salt applied and plows have been continuously plowing and replowing those streets during the overnight hours. This will continue throughout the morning. The main streets are all passable but they are still snow covered and slippery.

The City of Madison will be plowing all residential streets today beginning at noon, when the snow is forecasted to come to an end or at least the accumulating portion of the snow will end. At that time, we will deploy approximately 175 pieces of equipment to plow the 1708 lane miles of streets in the City. We are hoping that the plowing will be completed by 10:00 pm this evening.

This is a relatively dry snow and with only a little over 3" on the ground. Shoveling and plowing of this snow will be much easier than if the snow was heavy and wet. Traffic should be able to move about the City as well throughout the day as long as caution is taken and extra time is allotted.

The City will be declaring a Snow Emergency for both tonight, Saturday night, December 4th and for Sunday night, December 5th. That means that all people should try to find off street parking or at a minimum abide by the alternate side parking rules. Since it will become December 5th during the overnight hours, people should park on the odd side of the street tonight and park on the even side of the street on Sunday night. Remember, don't let the snow lead to a ticket or a tow.

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UPDATED: Friday, December 3, 2010 --- 3:30 p.m.

CITY OF MADISON SNOW PLOWING UPDATES by Alan Schumacher, Streets Superintendent:

Our forecasters are calling for between 3" and 4" of snow falling beginning later this evening, after rush hour, and continuing through the overnight hours before ending as flurries during the afternoon on Saturday.

Temperatures will be in the middle 20's so salt will be effective and will be used throughout the storm on our main arterials, main connector streets, Madison Metro bus routes and the streets around the schools and hospitals.

As soon as the snow begins falling, all 30 or our salt routes will be deployed to begin laying salt and plowing those main streets. Crews will continue to work throughout the night and into Saturday morning.

When accumulations do reach the 3" plateau and the snow has stopped or just about ended, the full scale plowing operation of all City streets will begin. If the forecasts hold true, we would be expecting to begin plowing the residential streets about noon on Saturday with the goal of finishing the plowing by 10:00 pm Saturday evening.

We are expecting this snow to be relatively dry without a lot of moisture in and it should be easy to shovel and easy to plow.

Remember to abide by the alternate side parking regulations and to see if there will be a Snow Emergency declared for Saturday night and Sunday night by either checking the website, the winter parking hotline at 261-9111, by signing up for a text alert or get updated by Facebook or on Twitter.

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UPDATED: Friday, December 3, 2010 --- 1:00 p.m.

ReadyWisconsin has tips to keep motorists ready

(MADISON) – The State of Wisconsin is monitoring the first winter storm of the season that will hit southern Wisconsin tonight. The National Weather Service has issued Winter Storm Warnings and Advisories from Eau Claire to the Milwaukee area.

The storm system is expected to move into the state by late afternoon and will continue thru Saturday afternoon. Forecasters are expecting 4-6 inches of snow.

Motorists should be prepared to adjust travel plans and take extra precautions. The snow will impact travel Friday evening through Saturday morning. Current winter road conditions are available at www.511wi.gov or call 511.

In addition, motorists should have a winter emergency kit in their vehicle with a shovel, flashlight, blanket, hat and gloves, and snacks. A complete list of items is available at http://ReadyWisconsin.wi.gov.

Both the Wisconsin National Guard’s Joint Operations Center (JOC) and the Wisconsin Emergency Management 24 Hour Duty Officer will monitor the storms. The State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will not be activated at this time; however that could change if conditions should deteriorate.

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UPDATED Thursday, December 2, 2010 --- 7:50 a.m.

From the City of Madison
by Alan Schumacher, Streets Superintendent
First Significant Snow of Season Expected on Friday into Saturday!

With the first significant snowfall of the season expected Friday night into Saturday, I just wanted to remind everyone to make sure to abide by the winter parking rules that are in effect during the winter. Parking Enforcement is out and is ticketing violators.

Folks who reside outside the downtown Isthmus area are reminded that they must abide by alternate side parking regulations every night from November 15th through March 15th. If you must park your car in the street, make sure you park on the side of the street that it will be when you wake up in the morning. The alternate side parking restrictions are in effect from 1:00 am until 7:00 am. For example, since today is December 2nd, you should park on the odd side of the street tonight since it will become December 3rd when the parking restrictions are in effect.

For those of you who live in the Snow Emergency Zone, which is the downtown Isthmus area, please keep informed about the weather and if there is a Snow Emergency declaration. When there is a Snow Emergency declared, the entire City, including the Isthmus, is under the alternate side parking regulations.

We are expecting snow to begin late on Friday evening and last into Saturday afternoon. A total of between 4"-6" is expected in the Madison area.

In anticipation of the expected storm, we will be anti-icing our main arterials today and into Friday. This means that we will be applying some streams of liquid salt brine onto the pavement that will quickly dry. Once the snow begins to fall, the dried salt should quickly interact with the falling snow and begin the melting process and prevent the snow from bonding to the pavement.

Once the snow begins to fall, our 30 salt trucks will be dispatched and continue to plow and salt the salt routes until the snow is over or almost over. If accumulations reach the 3" level, we will then plow all City streets, which requires about 175 piece of equipment to plow the 766 miles of City streets.

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Posted Wednesday December 1, 2010 -- 5:00 p.m.

Last December, snow crippled the city of Madison. Plows worked overtime but much of the blame was placed on the streets division.

Wednesday's snowfall didn't come close to what we saw almost a year ago. But according to Streets Superintendent Al Schumacher, they learned a lot from last year's storm and are better prepared because of it.

"I don't think there's any question in that the December 8th and 9th storm, the blizzard of last December had a significant affect on our preparation," Schumacher says.

This year, the city added four anti-icing trucks with thousand-gallon tanks to their fleet. These should help prepare roads before the first flakes fall.

"Rather than the snow melting on top of the frozen ground and creating an ice bond, you're going to have a layer of de-icer underneath the snow so it prevents the bond," Schumacher says.

Other improvements include a new user-friendly Website, a new list of arterial streets the city will focus on during major storms and coming in January, four new 5,000-gallon liquid storage tanks used for organic de-icers.

The city also purchased a gauge that they installed at the intersection of University Ave. and Park Street that's going to measure the temperature of the pavement.

"There are certain days it could be zero out but sunny and the pavement could warm up to as much as 30 degrees. So salt could be used," Schumacher says.

Of course, the city also has plenty of salt and sand and if they have to they'll be able to get more.

To see the city's new winter Website, click the link below.