Provo City

Blizzard Information


The National Weather Service calls the blizzard expected tonight (11/23/10) a "very potent storm". Listen to a briefing here:

Here's the process the city follows when it comes to snow removal:

First, the Monitoring Phase. The Police Department and Streets Maintenance Division monitor conditions as the snow storm develops.

Second, the Alert Phase. When snow starts to accumulate, the on-call supervisor in the Streets Maintenance Division notifies the snow plow drivers of the need to report to work.

Third, the Operations Phase. During the snow storm, the first priority is to sand and salt the collector roads, regulated intersections, hillsides, and curves. Next in priority are the secondary and residential streets.

Fourth, the Next Day Phase. The day after the storm, the Streets Maintenance Divisions' responsibilities include clearing cul-de-sacs and removing snow from business areas.

It might be helpful to keep in mind that the following major roads are maintained by the state, not the city: 1) University Avenue; 2) State Street, which becomes 500 West, then 300 South, and State Street again; and 3) Geneva Road to Center Street to 500 West.

Read more about our snow removal operations in last February's city newsletter here.

Also, here's a message from Deputy Public Works Director Scott Peppler:

If the storm tonight comes in as currently forecasted, this storm is very dangerous and not the typical winter storm for Provo. This winter storm is certainly not like any other first winter storm of the season in recent memory.

The projected snow totals, which are currently forecasted at 8-12 inches, are high, but are not that rare. The difference is what happens after the snow storm front moves out of the region. Normally after the storm front moves out, the temperatures rise above freezing and the sun is out during daylight. The snow on the roadway melts and the streets dry out.

The danger with this storm is ice. With this storm, the temperatures for the next two days are in the low twenty's for highs and in the single digits for lows. That combined with the wind will keep our streets snow covered.

Our snow plow operators will be out plowing and salting the streets on the hills and our intersections. However the predicted conditions for this storm are more like what occurs in the upper Mid-west and the Alberta Clipper snow storms. For the next two days, many of major collector streets and most of our residential streets will be icy. Salt works best from 25-32 degrees. At zero degrees, salt is much less effective. It takes our salt trucks three hours to make one pass on our major collector streets, hills and intersections. With these expected cold temperatures and high winds blowing snow after the storm leaves the region, the collector streets will ice up before the operators can return to salt the routes again.

During this forecasted blizzard tonight and for at least the next two days, be aware of possible icy conditions on all streets. Please limit traveling on our streets as much as possible.