On alert
Northern part of county hit first with snowBy DAVID M GRIMES (dgrimes@reviewonline.com)
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EAST LIVERPOOL - A winter weather advisory alert for Columbiana County have shifted the alert eyes of the area's road crews to the radio, television, Internet and news updates regarding possible snow accumulation in the Ohio Valley region.
The alert was issued Thursday afternoon and remains in effect until 6 p.m. today, according to The National Weather Service. According to the advisory, snow accumulation of up to six inches of snow is expected, in some isolated areas, and generally the county can have about 2-4 inches of snow by Friday evening.
The advisor also warns motorists that periods of snow can cause difficulties in visibility with snow covered roads and drifting or blowing snow.
As Thursday evening approached, the snow began to enter northern Columbiana County. Heavier snow was reported in Columbiana and the Salem regions and a light snow fall began in East Liverpool around 10 p.m. Wellsville and Hancock County were reporting similar light snowfall late Thursday night as well.
The Columbiana County Sheriff's Office reported a stuck tanker truck on state Route 30 towards Hanoverton late last night. Heavier snow was reported in that area as well.
Crews from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) are already preparing for the forecasted blast of winter weather.
According to ODOT's sophisticated weather monitoring service and systems, snow is expected over a large portion of the state this afternoon into tomorrow with some heavy lake effect snow forecasted in northeast Ohio.
ODOT District 11 Deputy Director Dick Bible said, Utilizing up-to-date forecasting information, we know this storm is coming, so we've already scheduled our crews for the overnight hours and are pre-treating all of our roadways today across northeast and east-central Ohio with salt brine to help prevent ice and snow from sticking to the roadways when it starts.
ODOT's state of the art Road Weather Information System (RWIS) provides such things as pavement temperatures throughout the district, air and subsurface temperatures, dew points, wind speed, and precipitation type and rates.
RWIS is available to everyone by clicking on the link for Road and Weather Sensors through www.buckeyetraffic.org.
Bible advised motorists to drive safely and stressed to slow down during winter weather.
St. Clair Township Road Supervisor Scott Barrett said most of the roadways already have been pretreated from crews spreading salt mixtures to combat the snow earlier this week.
The supervisor said he would be monitoring the weather updates and he and his crew are ready for the possibility of a snow accumulation and winter weather.
"We're in good shape," Barrett said. "We're ahead of the game, we have about 420 tons of salt alone."
The St. Clair Township road crew will be using a 4-4-3 mix combining four parts gravel, four parts ash and three parts salt to the roadways.
Barrett said he and his men will "play it by ear" in readying themselves for the possible accumulation of snow.
Their township neighbor to the south is also set for any winter weather that may come into the area.
Karl Kontnier, trustee, said the township has enough salt and mix to combat an upcoming snow storm.
"I'm sure we're ready," Kontnier said. "We're as ready as we can be."
The trustee also added the township road department has all equipment ready to go.
In the city, Ray Talbott, street department superintendent, also issued similar sentiments.
"We're in good shape," the street superintendent said. "We'll do the best we can."
Talbott said nine street department workers are at the ready and the street crew will use the three salt and plow trucks.
Talbott also said the city was in good shape with about 500 or more tons of salt in storage and will continue to receive gravel mix.
Like St. Clair Township, the city was able to buy salt at last year's prices at the maximum 400 ton limit.
Discussions across the city and townships have taken place regarding the increased price and limited availability of salt. Talbott said if the city were to purchase salt today at current prices, the costs would be double or triple the costs of previous years.
The street supervisor also encouraged drivers to use caution when navigating the streets. Like Deputy Director Bible, Talbott encouraged drivers to slow down and realize they are driving in bad, winter weather.
The roads may be properly salted now, but depending on the amount of bad weather the area receives, the availability of materials may cause some road departments in various areas to become low in salt and other mix, Talbott said. He advised drivers to use extra caution as the winter weather progresses.
