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Ready PA Monthly - February 2022
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Ask A Plow Truck Driver
Pennsylvania maintains 40,000 miles of roads and 25,40 bridges. That means there are approximately 95,600 snow lane miles. If you are having trouble imagining that in your head, how about enough snow lane miles to circle the world nearly four times!
On average, PennDOT uses 807,766 tons of salt to keep Pennsylvania drivers moving. If you need another visual, that is two Empire State Buildings. With all these facts, there are still questions. So, we asked a plow truck driver two of the most common questions.
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Winter Weather Safety Tips That We LOVE!
Unfortunately, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and we have six more weeks of unpredictable winter weather left.
What! Your trunk is empty?
Where is your winter emergency travel kit? Always have a winter emergency travel kit, whether it is summer or winter inside your vehicle. Each season presents its own obstacles. Switching out your supplies every season will help keep you and your loved ones safe when traveling.
Make sure to include these items in your winter emergency kit:
- Flashlight and batteries
- Cell phone and charger
- Snow shovel
- Jumper cables
- Blanket
- Battery-operated radio
Beams: Low and High. So many choices, but which is correct?
Use your low beams in bad weather, especially in cases of heavy or blowing snow. Using your high beams when driving in snow, rain, or even fog will challenge your vision and actually make it worse.
Why is this the case? The bright light from your headlights shines towards the snow and/or fog, the bright light will reflect back to you, causing a glare. Especially during snowstorms, the snowflakes and ice crystals will allow even more light to reflect back to you causing a wall of glare.
Cruisin' and Looking for a Bruisin'
Do not use cruise control while driving on snow-covered roads. Cruise control is convenient, especially for those long drives. But, during winter weather, using cruise control can be dangerous. The purpose of cruise control is to maintain a constant speed. With that being the case, if you skid or hydroplane in snow, ice, or rain, your vehicle will actually accelerate, and the wheels will continue to spin to try to keep your speed.
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2-12 Inches of Snow?
Why is Winter Precipitation Forecasting Challenging?
It’s the “nobody wins” battle between meteorologists and the rest of the world: predicting snow, or any winter precipitation for that matter. Why is there so much uncertainty, large ranges, and no simple solution? Well, let’s break it down.
Where We Start: A weather forecast is four-dimensional. So, a forecaster has to consider factors on what’s happening north to south (1), west to east (2), ground to the top of the sky (3), and time (4). Then, we measure seven weather factors on these four dimensions: temperature (1), west to east wind (2), north to south wind (3), up and downwind (4), moisture (5), air pressure (6), and air density (7). Luckily, we have supercomputers to run models, with different variations to give us a set of tools to figure out all of these complexities - each model offers varying possibilities!
Let’s move on to the precipitation challenges.
Forecasting: When a meteorologist puts together a winter precipitation forecast, they often look at what’s driving the overall weather pattern. Then they look at moisture available and details on temperature throughout the sky, including where the clouds will form. Let’s take a look at the image above to walk through the precipitation types from left to right. What you are looking at is a side view of the sky, like slicing into a club sandwich and looking at all those layers of meat and veggie goodness. So, the blue area represents below-freezing air, and the salmon color is warm air.
Since the atmosphere is 4D, layers of warm air can squeeze into the cold air over time, wedging between the snow falling out of the cloud and the ground. Here’s what happens:
- If it is below freezing from cloud to ground…boom, you get snow! Easy!
- If there’s a small layer of warm air and then a nice thick layer of cold air before you hit the ground, then you get sleet. Why? The snow melts to raindrops, which then have time to refreeze into frozen rain balls before hitting the ground.
- If the layer of warm air is a bit thicker, but the ground is below freezing, you get freezing rain. As the name implies, the raindrops freeze on contact with the frozen surface, forming ice.
- Finally, if there is enough warm air beneath the cloud stretching all the way to the ground, then the snow melts and falls on above freezing surfaces as plain rain.
Uncertainties: Events where it’s clearly cold enough for snow or warm enough for rain are usually easier to forecast. But, keep in mind, even in these scenarios, placement of the precipitation and timing often allow for the variable snow ranges. For storms that include snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain combinations, the switchover timing and amounts often lead to larger ranges in the forecast. If we go from snow to sleet or rain, totals can be “compacted down” by the weight of rain and sleet. To add a bit more complication, an inch of water available in the cloud to fall as snow can range anywhere from 5-20” of snow depending on the atmospheric temperature profile, which changes over the storm. Wow!
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Know Your Winter Weather Terms
Winter storms include a variety of weather, including snow or subfreezing temperatures, strong winds, and even ice or heavy rainstorms. It's important to understand the basic winter weather terminology so you will know what the danger is and how to respond appropriately.
- Winter Weather Advisory is issued for accumulations of snow, freezing rain, freezing drizzle and sleet which will cause significant inconveniences and, if caution is not exercised, could be life-threatening.
- Winter Storm Watch alerts the public to the possibility of a blizzard, heavy snow, heavy freezing rain or heavy sleet. Watches are usually issued 12 to 48 hours before a storm begins.
- Winter Storm Warning is issued when hazardous winter weather (i.e. heavy snow, heavy freezing rain or sleet) is imminent or occurring. Warnings are usually issued 12 to 24 hours before a storm begins.
- Blizzard Warning is issued for sustained or gusty winds of 35 mph or more and falling or blowing snow creating visibilities at or below 1/4 mile, lasting at least three hours.
- Wind Chill Advisory is issued when wind chill temperatures are expected to be a significant inconvenience to life with prolonged exposure.
- Wind Chill Warning is issued when wind chill temperatures are expected to be hazardous to life within several minutes of exposure.
- Snow Flurries is light snow falling for short durations. No accumulation or light dusting is all that is expected.
- Snow Showers is snow falling at varying intensities for brief periods of time. Some accumulation is possible.
- Snow Squalls are brief, intense snow showers accompanied by strong, gusty winds. Accumulation may be significant. Snow squalls are significant life-safety hazards while driving.
- Blowing Snow is wind-driven snow that reduces visibility and causes significant drifting. Blowing snow may be snow that is falling and/or loose snow on the ground picked up by wind.
- Sleet is raindrops that freeze into ice pellets before reaching the ground. Sleet usually bounces when hitting a surface and does not stick to objects but can accumulate like snow.
- Freezing Rain is rain that falls onto a surface with a temperature below freezing. This rain then freezes on contact with surfaces, such as trees, cars and roads, forming a coating or glaze of ice. Small accumulations of ice can cause a significant hazard.
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3G Network Is Going Away
If you have an older mobile device, you may not be able to make or receive calls and texts, including calls to 911, or use data services at some point this year. Mobile carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile/Sprint and Verizon are updating the technology that mobile devices use to operate. Older devices work on a “3G” or “4G” network. Mobile carriers are shutting down their 3G networks, which rely on older technology, to make room for more advanced network services, including 5G.
People who are holding on to an older phone just for emergencies are especially at risk. If the phone uses the older technology, they may not be able to call for help by dialing 911.
What To Know:
- Devices affected may include more than just mobile phones such as medical devices, tablets, home security systems and more.
- You can’t always tell whether your device is affected by the name or logo.
- According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), many carriers, such as Cricket, Boost, Straight Talk, and several Lifeline mobile service providers are also affected.
What To Do:
- Find out if your device(s) is affected: Your best bet is to call your carrier to find out.
- Find out when your carrier will be switching to 5G: Visit the FCC website.
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