VDOT Preparations for Winter 2012 - 2013

December 4, 2012

Perry Cogburn

VDOT Operations and Security Division

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Declared Winter Weather Disasters

Year Event

1993 Blizzard

1994 Ice Storm

1994 Ice Storm

1995 Central VA Floods

1996 Blizzard

1996 Spring Flood

1996 Hurricane Fran

1999 Hurricane Dennis

1999 Hurricane Floyd

1999 Ice Storm

2000 Blizzard

2001 Southwest Flooding

2001 9/11/2001 (Pentagon)

Year

Event

2002 Bristol Flood

2003 President’s Day Storm

2003 Hurricane Isabel

2004

Southwest Flooding

2004

TS Gaston

2006 June Flooding

2006 TS Ernesto

2006

Nor’easter Flood

2009 Nor’easter Flood

2009 December Snowstorm

2010

February Snowstorm

Year Event

1993 Blizzard1994 February Ice Storm1994 March Ice Storm1996 Blizzard1999 December Ice Storm2000 Blizzard

2001 President’s Day Storm 2009 December Snowstorm

2010 February Snowstorm

Lynchburg Snow

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Loudoun County, February 2010

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Ice Storm

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Salem Snow

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Staunton Snow

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Snow and Ice

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Weather 2011

• January – 6 snow events• February – 3 snow events• March – 4 snow events• April – 29 tornadoes• August – Earthquake* & Hurricane Irene*• September – Tropical Storm Lee*• October – 7 tornadoes, 1 snow event• November – 3 snow events• December – 2 snow events

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Weather 2012

• January – 9 snow events, 2 flood events• February – 4 snow events, 2 flood events• March – 1 snow event, 3 flood events• April – 2 flood events• May – 2 flood events• June – Derecho*• July – 1 flood event• August – 5 flood events• September – 1 flood event• October – Hurricane Sandy*,1 snow event

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Comparison of FY12 to FY11

Material FY11 FY12 Difference

Salt 443,000 tons 126,000 tons 317,000 tons

Sand 88,000 tons 20,000 tons 68,000 tons

Liquid CaCl 684,000 gals 200,000 gals 484,000 gals

Liquid MgCl 112,000 gals 17,000 gals 95,000 gals

Treated abrasives 84,000 tons 18,000 tons 66,000 tons

Snow budget $115.5 million $126 million $10.5 million

Snow expenditures $207 million $ 64 million $143 million

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IMPROVED SNOW AND ICE PROCEDURES

• Anti-icing

• Road Weather Information System Expansion

• Duty Officer Program

• VaTraffic/511

• VDOT Customer Service Center

• Transportation Operations Centers

• Benefits of On-Call Meteorologist

• Command Center/Situation Room in Central Office

• SEOC Liaison

• Conference Calls

• ESF 1

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FY 13 Snow Budget

FY 13 Snow Budget

District Budget

Bristol $ 13,968,639

Salem $ 15,900,560

Lynchburg $ 4,519,456

Richmond $ 10,376,222

Hampton Roads $ 4,216,040

Fredericksburg $ 6,638,380

Culpeper $ 9,405,439

Staunton $ 10,480,821

NoVA $ 55,767,803

Statewide Reserves$ 14,121,781

Total $145,395,141

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Latest Innovation

The snowplow-tracker map is at http://novasnowplowing.virginia.gov/.

A video on how to use the website is available on VDOT’s YouTube site at http://youtu.be/HMRaItZLgyo.

More information on the specific tools VDOT will be using in northern Virginia is at http://www.virginiadot.org/newsroom/northern_virginia/2012/vdot_has_new_tools61771.asp.

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Weather Forecasting

Agency has had a weather forecasting contract for past 4 years

Meridian Environmental out of North Dakota has been providing the service Specialize in winter weather forecasting Provide an updated weather forecast every 3 hours on

their website, more often during an event Participate in agency teleconferences dealing with

inclement weather

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January 29, 2010 Storm

District Snow Totals Start End Forecast Amount

Bristol 7 – 11” 10 PM Thursday 6 PM Saturday 9 – 12”

Culpeper 5 – 12” 6 – 10 AM Friday 5 PM Saturday 2 – 7”

Fred’burg 8 – 18” 9 – 10 AM Friday 9 PM Saturday 6 – 10”

H. Roads 5 – 12” 8 AM Friday 9 PM Saturday 9 – 12”

Lynchburg 6 – 12” 4 AM Friday 5 PM Saturday 8 – 12”

NoVA 4.5 - 7” 10 AM Friday 5 PM Saturday 2 – 5”

Richmond 8 – 12” 6 – 7 AM Friday 5 PM Saturday 8 – 12”

Salem 7 – 12” 10 PM Thursday 5 PM Saturday 10 – 14”

Staunton 6 – 9” 5 AM Friday 4 PM Saturday 1 – 8”

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