| RELEASE: CONTACT: |
IMMEDIATE Tamara Neale 804-786-6458 Sande.Snead@VDOT.Virginia.gov Sande Snead 804-225-4491 |
CO-snow96 Jan. 5, 2006 |
BLIZZARD OF ’96 RECALLED ON ANNIVERSARY
Storm dumped as much as three feet of snow in some areas
RICHMOND – You know you’ve done a good job when your snow removal efforts inspire a resolution from the Virginia General Assembly. That was the case a decade ago today (Jan. 6) when legislators recognized the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT’s) response to the Blizzard of ’96. People really were walking two miles in drifts of snow to get to work.
In the General Assembly’s resolution, employees were thanked for battling two feet of snow – and sometimes more – and winds that blew 26 knots leaving 12-foot snow drifts. VDOT’s Transportation Emergency Operations Center fielded more than 135,000 calls during the snow emergency of Jan. 6-13, 1996.
While statewide weather conditions are clearly different 10 years to the day later, the memories of that storm are still as fresh as a snow-covered mountain for many VDOT employees.
One estimate of snow removed by crews in Salem District alone was 8 million tons. Within about three days of the blizzard, it was apparent that major machinery was needed to handle the snow volume in the Roanoke and New River valleys. Snow blowers, bulldozers and motor graders were dispatched to clear narrow paths through the nearly 30 inches of snow. Snow blowers weren't pressed into service again in this region for nearly 10 years when they were turned loose on 10-foot snow drifts created by a late February 2005 storm.
In order to combat big snow storms such as this one, VDOT relies on in-house snow removal workers as well as independent contractors. In 1996, 6,000 VDOT employees or contract employees were plowing, sanding and salting for seven consecutive days or more.
The Lynchburg District received as much as 21 inches of snow in the initial blast in some areas. Schools were closed for a week or more.
Staunton District employees noted in their post-snow critique that high-volume snow events such as this one present unique challenges.
“There was nowhere to place the snow,” Staunton operators said during the critique. “Snow plows couldn’t get the snow over the ridge of the snow bank.”
Bristol District crews were trapped at the Fort Blackmore Area Headquarters by downed trees. They worked 37 hours straight cutting through trees and continuing to help people, including a man with heart problems who was stranded.
VDOT’s Fredericksburg District averaged 20 to 25 inches of snow and ice that fell throughout the 14-county region. Snow drifts averaged four to six feet high on the interstate and other open areas on primary and secondary routes.
“Motorists abandoned their vehicles on the interstate, which hampered plowing efforts,” said Fredericksburg Public Affairs Officer Tina Bundy. “Schools were closed for five to 10 days on average.”
In Loudoun County, a husband and wife were stranded in their car for 18 hours because of snow drifts. Their cell phone did not work until the eighteenth hour of their ordeal. Police called VDOT and Northern Virginia District sent a crew with a loader and grader (with a drift plow) to rescue the couple.
The Richmond area got 9.5 inches of snow on Jan. 6-7, 1996. Jim Smith, now Richmond District maintenance engineer, remembers the blizzard of ’96 well.
"I was resident engineer in Chesterfield at the time,” Smith said. “As the event went on, we hired every truck, loader, and motor grader we could find. I believe at one time, we had 52 hired motor grader operators working in our residency. And, even with that level of effort, we couldn't accomplish much in the subdivisions. The ice bond was so hard that the motor grader blades were pretty ineffective in cutting it off. We ate up a lot of blades trying."
Culpeper Public Affairs Officer Dee Brooking and her husband volunteered for day-shift switchboard duty at the Culpeper district office. They went from no calls on Jan. 5 to all lines lit up without a break by Jan. 8.
The price tag from this one statewide snow event: $39.6 million. The snow removal budget for the entire year in 1996 was $43.5 million.
Sadly, three employees died during the storm – one of a heart attack and one in his sleep after working long shifts. A third was killed when his pickup truck struck a snow bank on I-66 while driving home after work.
There is little chance of snow in the Commonwealth a decade later. Statewide national weather forecasts for the 10-year-anniversary of the blizzard of ’96 call for temperatures with highs in the high-30s to mid-40s statewide.
Go here for photos
Click for National Weather Service map
In the General Assembly’s resolution, employees were thanked for battling two feet of snow – and sometimes more – and winds that blew 26 knots leaving 12-foot snow drifts. VDOT’s Transportation Emergency Operations Center fielded more than 135,000 calls during the snow emergency of Jan. 6-13, 1996.
While statewide weather conditions are clearly different 10 years to the day later, the memories of that storm are still as fresh as a snow-covered mountain for many VDOT employees.
One estimate of snow removed by crews in Salem District alone was 8 million tons. Within about three days of the blizzard, it was apparent that major machinery was needed to handle the snow volume in the Roanoke and New River valleys. Snow blowers, bulldozers and motor graders were dispatched to clear narrow paths through the nearly 30 inches of snow. Snow blowers weren't pressed into service again in this region for nearly 10 years when they were turned loose on 10-foot snow drifts created by a late February 2005 storm.
In order to combat big snow storms such as this one, VDOT relies on in-house snow removal workers as well as independent contractors. In 1996, 6,000 VDOT employees or contract employees were plowing, sanding and salting for seven consecutive days or more.
The Lynchburg District received as much as 21 inches of snow in the initial blast in some areas. Schools were closed for a week or more.
Staunton District employees noted in their post-snow critique that high-volume snow events such as this one present unique challenges.
“There was nowhere to place the snow,” Staunton operators said during the critique. “Snow plows couldn’t get the snow over the ridge of the snow bank.”
Bristol District crews were trapped at the Fort Blackmore Area Headquarters by downed trees. They worked 37 hours straight cutting through trees and continuing to help people, including a man with heart problems who was stranded.
VDOT’s Fredericksburg District averaged 20 to 25 inches of snow and ice that fell throughout the 14-county region. Snow drifts averaged four to six feet high on the interstate and other open areas on primary and secondary routes.
“Motorists abandoned their vehicles on the interstate, which hampered plowing efforts,” said Fredericksburg Public Affairs Officer Tina Bundy. “Schools were closed for five to 10 days on average.”
In Loudoun County, a husband and wife were stranded in their car for 18 hours because of snow drifts. Their cell phone did not work until the eighteenth hour of their ordeal. Police called VDOT and Northern Virginia District sent a crew with a loader and grader (with a drift plow) to rescue the couple.
The Richmond area got 9.5 inches of snow on Jan. 6-7, 1996. Jim Smith, now Richmond District maintenance engineer, remembers the blizzard of ’96 well.
"I was resident engineer in Chesterfield at the time,” Smith said. “As the event went on, we hired every truck, loader, and motor grader we could find. I believe at one time, we had 52 hired motor grader operators working in our residency. And, even with that level of effort, we couldn't accomplish much in the subdivisions. The ice bond was so hard that the motor grader blades were pretty ineffective in cutting it off. We ate up a lot of blades trying."
Culpeper Public Affairs Officer Dee Brooking and her husband volunteered for day-shift switchboard duty at the Culpeper district office. They went from no calls on Jan. 5 to all lines lit up without a break by Jan. 8.
The price tag from this one statewide snow event: $39.6 million. The snow removal budget for the entire year in 1996 was $43.5 million.
Sadly, three employees died during the storm – one of a heart attack and one in his sleep after working long shifts. A third was killed when his pickup truck struck a snow bank on I-66 while driving home after work.
There is little chance of snow in the Commonwealth a decade later. Statewide national weather forecasts for the 10-year-anniversary of the blizzard of ’96 call for temperatures with highs in the high-30s to mid-40s statewide.
Go here for photos
Click for National Weather Service map
Page last modified: Jan. 5, 2006
