Published: January 26, 2009 07:53 pm      

Pulaski braces for winter blast

Somerset — Kentucky Department of Highway officials said yesterday they are ready if the first major storm this winter moves across the Lake Cumberland area as expected.

A winter storm warning has been issued by the National Weather Service for most of Eastern Kentucky. Snow, sleet and freezing rain were expected to begin about 10 o’clock last night and continue through most of today and into tomorrow.

Huge salt trucks, equipped with snowplows, were lined up yesterday and ready to move out in each of the 10 counties in the Highway Department’s District 8 as soon as snow and ice started falling.

“We have 88 trucks ready to go in the district,” said Bruce Neely, Branch 2 manager for project delivery and preserv-ation for District 8. “Seventeen of the trucks are in Pulaski County,” he noted.

The National Weather Service expects as much as 2 inches of sleet and snow to accumulate along with up to a half inch of ice. Freezing rain and the weight of accumulating ice could down trees and power lines, resulting in widespread power outages, the Weather Service said.

The track of the developing low pressure system moving out of Texas was still uncertain yesterday. If the storm takes a southward track, the Lake Cumberland area could get more snow and sleet. If it passes north, much of the precipitation would be rain, heavy at times. The Weather Service said there could be up to 3 inches of rain and a flood watch has been issued for today and tomorrow.

Neely said major roads in the district, including Pulaski County, already have a coating of brine applied during the light snowfall last week.

“If the storm begins as rain ... it dilutes the brine already on the roads,” said Neely. He indicated trucks wouldn’t begin applying brine last night until ice begins to fall, either in the form of snow or sleet.

Highway Department road crews are expected to spend many long hours in their trucks if the storm event lasts two or three days as expected.

“Our crews work a regular shift today (Monday) ... and they have to come out tonight (Monday night) when the storm starts,” Neely said. There are about 2,400 miles of roads in the 10-county district that have to be treated during a snowstorm. Some of the roads are treated more than once, adding to the mileage, Neely said.

Bill Chaney, Branch 1 manager for project delivery and preservation, said brine is effective on the roads until the temperature falls into the mid-20s. “From the mid-20s and below, we switch to calcium chloride,” he said.

Because snowfall has not been heavy or frequent so far this winter, Neely said the district has a good supply of ice-melting materials.

“We have 14,000 tons of rock salt in the district, 60,000 gallons of brine and 51,000 gallons of calcium chloride,” Neely said.

Highway department officials cautioned motorists to be extra careful on roadways today if the storm materializes as expected. The Weather Service said the chance of precipitation in some form is near 100 percent.

“Watch out for snowplows,” said Neely. “These are big trucks that take up lots of room.”

Somerset uses rock salt on city streets, according to Steve Hyden at the city Street and Sanitation Department.

Hyden said Somerset doesn’t normally treat streets in advance of an approaching storm. “We wait until 9-1-1 calls and says there is a problem,” he explained.