Colorado Department of Transportation via @Denver7Traffic
Audio By Carbonatix
Early-season snowfalls can cause big commuting problems in metro Denver, since recent arrivals are often unprepared for driving in such conditions and longtimers are out of practice. But the issues are compounded when a storm deals an unexpectedly blustery blow to the region – which is what happened with the weather system that struck late Monday, November 14, and continued into the next morning.
According to Colorado Department of Transportation spokesperson Presley Fowler, “Denver’s forecast was for 0 to trace amounts of snowfall as of 9 p.m. Monday.” But snow totals as of noon Tuesday, November 15, were substantial: 1.7 inches in Aurora, 2 inches in Denver, 2.5 in Morrison, 4.1 in Lakewood, 4.5 in Arvada, and so on. As a result, the roadways were transformed into ice rinks, leading to automotive mayhem. “We’re seeing A LOT of accidents up in Denver metro,” KOAA meteorologist Sam Schreier tweeted during the height of the storm. “They’ve had a few inches of snow overnight, and the roads are much more slick.”
Later on Tuesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Schlatter admitted to 9News that the agency had erred. Typically, alarms don’t go off unless a forecast calls for snow accumulation of between three and five inches, but in the future, he said, “We should issue an advisory just expecting those types of impacts to travel, especially during the morning commute.”
In the meantime, local drivers did plenty of venting on social media. “My favorite thing about Denver is that nobody can ever accurately predict the weather, so now we have 2 inches of snow on the ground when it wasn’t even supposed to stick and none of the roads have been treated,” one wrote. Another pointed out, “My side of Denver was not prepared for snow 2 day. LMAO. Everybody just fish tailin’, no treated roads, fuck it.” And a third asserted that “Denver is the worst city for driving in the snow. They need to salt and plow the roads better.”
Even though CDOT was as surprised as anyone by the precipitation levels, Fowler insists that personnel pivoted quickly. “We had adequate forces for the overnight hours, and we called in additional crews as the snow increased in the early-morning hours Tuesday,” Fowler says. “With every snow event, including storms forecast for 0 to trace snowfall amounts, we have contingency plans in place to cover any increased snowfall that may occur. Those plans include having standby snowplow operators in place. In this case, we called in additional crews when the snowfall began to increase.”
Many drivers saw no evidence that CDOT had treated the highways, but Fowler says it happened: “Our plow operators apply deicer to the roads to prevent ice buildup regardless of whether or not there is enough snow to plow. In this case, we started applying the deicer when the snowfall rate started to pick up during the early-morning hours. CDOT uses both liquid and solid deicers to help melt the ice once it has started to stick on the pavement. For this storm, we used a combination of liquid and solid deicers when the snowfall intensified. The solid deicer is a brown/reddish salt that is used once the roads become overly compacted with ice and/or snowpack.”
Fowler acknowledges, however, that none of this was done before the first flakes fell. “Pretreatment is storm-dependent,” she notes. “CDOT does not typically pretreat for this forecasted amount of snow, which was 0 to trace. But even if the conditions aren’t right to pretreat or the forecast did not call for pretreatment, we are always treating the roadways during the storm with deicing materials.”
More snow is expected during the evening hours tomorrow, Thursday, November 17, continuing into Friday – and the advance predictions will give CDOT extra time to get ready. Until then, Fowler stresses that “motorists need to slow down and keep a safe following distance during snow and icy conditions. We are treating the roads based on what is recommended for the weather and pavement conditions, but that can only go so far if people are driving too fast. Colorado weather is very unpredictable and can change rapidly. Always be prepared for those changing conditions.”
That’s good advice for forecasters, too.
