Clipper’ carrying more snow
By GREG JORDAN
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — Snow plowing and road treating continued Wednesday as forecasters issued a winter weather advisory warning of weather that could bring hazardous travel conditions.
In Princeton, Public Works Director Kenny Rose wasn’t sure exactly how many times city crews have plowed snow, but the work has been constant.
“The last three nights, we’ve been out every night, and all week during the big snow,” Rose said.
To help keep the streets clear, drifts of plowed snow have to hauled off by truck and dumped in another place, he said. At least 300 loads have been taken to Roundhill Road near the city’s sanitary plant.
“You’ve got to move it before you get the next one (snow fall),” Rose said. “You don’t know how big the next one is going to be. You’ve got to anticipate the next one whether you get it or not.”
Residents can help snow removal efforts by not putting any snow they shovel into the streets, Rose said. When plows pass by, the snow goes right back into private property.
The National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va. issued a winter weather advisory Wednesday that included Mercer County in West Virginia and Bland, Giles, Tazewell and Wythe counties in Virginia. Snow was expected to start during the afternoon today and end early Friday morning. Between two to four inches of snow was expected, and forecasters warned that travel would become difficult in the advisory’s area.
Snowfall expected during the advisory’s period was part of a “clipper” or low pressure system coming out of southwestern Canada, said meteorologist Anita Silverman. After this clipper passes, more snow could fall along western slopes and higher elevations by Saturday, bringing up to six inches in places like Flat Top down to another inch in the New River area, Silverman said.
“It’s very dependent on where you are,” she said.
Despite the demands placed on supplies by the continuing snow showers, salt has remained available.
“We’re good,” Rose said of the Princeton’s salt supplies. “We’ve actually got another salt shipment coming. It will be here any day, but we’ve got plenty.”
On the state level, salt supplies were good in Mercer and Tazewell, Va. counties, supervisors said.
“At the moment we have probably close to 11,000 tons of salt still on hand,” said Tom Camden, acting district supervisor for the DOH in Mercer County. “That includes about 4,500 tons of abrasives and stones.” The DOH has contracts with two suppliers to purchase salt at a predetermined price.
“So we simply order from that contract as we need it,” he said. “Crews are still working around the clock.”
Salt supplies remained steady in Tazewell County, Va.
“We’re in fine shape right now,” said Randall McCracken, transportation operations supervisor said of local salt stocks.
Local shoppers are not still rushing to local stores so their pantries can stay full, but they are modifying their shopping habits in light of the current weather, said the manager to one local store.
“They haven’t been so much trying to stock up,” said Manager Kevin Bowling of Grant’s on the Bluefield Princeton Road.
With snow on the ground and cold morning temperatures, more shoppers arrive in the late morning when roads are clearing up, Bowling said.
“And then we get a pretty good rush when people are getting out of work. When night comes, people want to tuck in and stay at home,” he said. “We actually closed some stores early last night because traffic went to almost nothing. If nobody’s coming in to shop, we don’t want to jeopardize our people when they’re getting home.”
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