The blizzard that slammed much of the Northeast only delivered a glancing blow to the Washington area where the storm’s impact was confined to the eastern edge of the region. Area governments had prepared for a heavy snowfall, with road teams heavily salting the region’s roads. The only accumulating snow to be found, however, was east of the District where there was a sharp line between snow and no snow. Montgomery County saw only a few flurries, while eastern parts of Prince George’s County picked up about an inch. As the storm pulled away, it left a frigid wind in its wake.
| Snow budgets, 2010, 2011 |
| Alexandria, $722,296, $701,146 |
| Arlington, $1.1 million, $1.1 million |
| District, $6.6 million, $6.6 million |
| Montgomery, $3.2 million, $2.8 million |
| Prince George’s, $2.8 million, $2.9 million |
| MDSHA, $26 million, $31 million |
| VDOT, $93.7 million, $115.1 million |
The busy holiday weekend was not without its problems. The heavy snow that fell from Philadelphia to Boston caused the cancellation of dozens of local flights and Amtrak service to the Virginia shore, where more than a foot of snow fell.
Officials say they are prepared if the metro area does get hit by a big storm this season, despite the financial challenges they are facing. They hope, however, this winter won’t come close to matching the mayhem caused by the budget-busting, record snowfalls of the last one.
Staggering amounts of snow fell on the region last season — a total of 56.1 inches at Ronald Reagan National Airport and 73.2 inches at Washington Dulles International Airport. So massive were the December and February accumulations they were dubbed Snowmaggedon and Snowpocalypse.
In response, Maryland and Virginia, and some local jurisdictions, increased funds for snow removal. Montgomery County and Alexandria, however, saw their snow removal budgets decrease while Arlington County and the District maintained last year’s funding levels — despite having overspent their previous budgets by millions of dollars.
“We are aware that storms like we had in December and February could happen, really, any time,” said Yon Lambert, Alexandria’s deputy director of operations for transportation and environmental services. “But we have our fingers crossed that the storms we saw last year won’t happen again for several years.”
The National Weather Service forecasts more ice this year, which can cause more serious problems than snow, according to Jennifer McCord, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation. To prepare, VDOT has 48,000 tons of sand, 281,000 tons of salt, and 468,000 gallons of liquid calcium chloride and magnesium chloride in stock.
Northern Virginia’s portion of the VDOT budget is $33 million, enough to clear snow and ice from 17,679 miles of road in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties.
“The bottom line is we’ll spend whatever it takes, even if that means exceeding our budget,” McCord said.
The Maryland State Highway Administration operates on a frugal budget compared with VDOT. It has $31 million to spend statewide, a $5 million increase from last year.
Preparation is the key to spending the highway administration’s funds effectively, said spokesman Kellie Boulware. It takes more chemicals to break down snow or ice once it builds up, so Maryland takes a proactive approach by treating roads at the first sign of accumulation.
Maryland recently bought 30,000 gallons of sugar beet molasses, a sticky brown substance that increases the effectiveness of salt brine, providing a low-cost way of spreading deicing mixtures on roads before they can freeze.
