City plow staff work 36 hours straight through snowstorm, facing salt shortage

Winter Storm Fern blasted through the Lakes Region Sunday and Monday, dumping more than a foot of snow in most spots, accompanied by icy temperatures dipping below zero degrees Fahrenheit at times.

“It has just been a very expansive, low pressure system,” said Meteorologist Jerry Combs of the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. “Everywhere from the Midwest, to the South, and the entire East Coast has seen effects.”

Snow continued to pile up Monday, after heavy snowfall Sunday afternoon and through the night, and Combs said most areas in the Lakes Region received more than 1 foot.

“If you draw a circle around Lake Winnipesaukee, there is a good amount of snowfall,” Combs said.

Salt shortage

You never know what you'll get in New Hampshire when a snowstorm is in the forecast. In Laconia, Department of Public Works staff were ready with all hands on deck.

Employees came in around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, and worked straight through Monday. With the storm anticipated to taper off sometime just before midnight, Interim Public Works Director Nate Guerette hoped they would wrap up by about 3 a.m.

“We usually need three to four hours after the storm is done to finish the cleanup,” Guerette said.

Guerette said plowing work varies by storm, but they are always in close contact with police, as they have a 24/7 presence on the roads.

“They can help keep track of conditions in real-time, because the weather forecast is helpful, but it could be heavier in one spot than another,” Guerette said. “But in a storm like this, we know everything needs to be treated.”

Guerette said the storms so far this winter have been shorter, at about three to four hours, where they only need half a team to come in for certain parts of the city. This storm, however, is dumping throughout city limits.

“By the time we get the nod, it is about an hour until we get blades on the ground for plowing,” Guerette said. “We anticipated a couple inches an hour, so once it started, it was time to get going.”

Guerette said many communities are having an issue with their salt supply. Most get salt from Portsmouth, where ships come from all over the world. He said the last round of ships went through the Panama Canal, which were held up due to the conflict in Venezuela.

“We haven’t run out, but we have been cutting the salt with sand,” Guerette said.

The city usually receives 200 tons of salt in a delivery, and the most recent delivery on Saturday was only 33 tons. He said the city should be fine, but will be catching up within 10 days to get back to a comfortable level.

“We like to have 400 tons of salt on hand,” Guerette said. “Depending on the storm, you could burn through 200 tons.”

Guerette said when the department has only 200 tons of salt, they start to get nervous.

Guerette said in the month of December alone, the city went through 1,552 tons of salt treating roads. He pointed out snow was being “pushed around every day except maybe Christmas,” and that overtime was “through the roof.” Just in December, the city spent $65,000 on overtime.

“It has been an expensive winter,” Guerette said. “The city is smart and has a capital reserve fund for winter maintenance. This year we know we will be tapping into it.”

Mixing salt with sand has been a cost-saving measure, which works well to keep the roads safe, but Guerette said it means then roads need to be cleaned up. The city street sweeper does a lap of every square inch of mileage in Laconia three times per year, he said.

There's also how hard his employees are physically working.

“We have a storm like this every winter, where you’re putting in 24-plus straight hours,” Guerette said. “By the time they’re done, that’s 36 hours straight. That is long.”

Snow accumulation varies

Some pockets around the state received more snow, as Combs noted in Sandwich there was upward of 13 inches, as snow continued to fall. He also received reports from Conway of 15.5 inches, and just over 17 inches in Bartlett.

“As far as the rest of today and into this evening, we’re expecting at least an additional 2 to 3, or up to 4 inches,” Combs said just after noon on Monday. “So, we’re not completely out of the woods."

Combs said the real brunt of the snowfall came in the southeastern part of the state, where he received reports of 16 to 20 inches.

One similarity, no matter where in the state, was that temperatures remained extremely cold.

“It’s just staying cold,” Combs said. “It will taper off over night, but then the lows will be either side of zero, in the single digits. It could feel close to 10 below with the breeze in the morning.

“It’s just kind of not too nice out, but it is January.”

Staying safe

Laconia Fire Lt. J-P Hobby said there were no storm complications, except for a “half dozen or so” medical calls Monday morning.

“We haven’t had any major motor vehicle accidents today,” Hobby said Monday. “Knock on wood.”

Chief Tim Joubert said the biggest thing is for drivers to take their time on the road, as the temperatures make everything slick, even with the public works team doing an “unbelievable job.”

“There have been some cars off the road into snowbanks, but pretty routine stuff,” Joubert said.

Laconia firefighters did need to get out and shovel walkways to get inside to help patients, and Hobby said some patients reported chest pains from shoveling and overexerting themselves.

“Take it easy shoveling,” Hobby recommended. “Take your time, and take breaks often.”

Hobby said it is important to warm up periodically due to the extreme cold temperatures, and shovel out fire hydrants and any exterior heating vents blocked by snow.

“Check on your neighbors, and make sure their egress and doors are cleared, and stairs are shoveled,” Hobby said.

A boon for ski season

While the snowy weather can make life a little difficult, one place it is championed is Gilford's Gunstock Mountain Resort. General Manager Robert Drake got off the slopes at 3:45 p.m. Monday, and said the conditions were incredible, after the mountain received 17 inches of snow and counting.

“It’s tough not to be happy about this in a ski town,” Drake said, adding the snowfall put the mountain at 100% open, including the glades. “This is a blessing for sure.”