Snow keeps county plowing crews busy
By Alexa Zoellner azoellner@dailyunion.com | Posted: Monday, February 5, 2018
JEFFERSON — Drifting snow kept the Jefferson County Highway Department snowplow drivers on the road for long hours over this past weekend.
The National Weather Service Office in Sullivan says four to six inches of snow was recorded across Jefferson County with other area regions of the state getting up to eight or more inches.
A winter weather advisory remains in effect Monday from noon to 9 p.m. with more snow accumulation of one to three inches expected.
Lakeside Lutheran High School in Lake Mills was scheduled to close at 1:30 p.m. due to the expected weather conditions and all after-school events are canceled.
Jefferson County Highway Department Superintendent Greg Koeppel said a total of about 20 snowplow drivers were out Saturday, Sunday and today maintaining the county roadways.
Koeppel said coverage of Class 1 roads — Interstate 94, State Highway 26, and portions of U.S. Highway 12 and Highway 16 — began at noon on Saturday and ran until about 7 p.m. Sunday.
Coverage of Class 2 highways — U.S. Highway 18, and State Highways 89, 19, 106 and 59 and county highways — ran from about 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
“The snow, it ranged as far as how many inches we got up to the north above I-94 early on Saturday afternoon,” Koeppel said. “They got three inches up that way, whereas the southern part of the county didn’t get that much. But then, by late Saturday afternoon, early evening, we had snow coming down at a heavy rate everywhere in the county.
“A lot of blowing and drifting made it very difficult to do anything with it,” he continued. “At some point, you’re plowing and trying to keep the drifts off the road where you don’t have a foot or two of snow in the road and are just trying to keep the roadway clear. Then we’ll worry about getting the ice and hardpack off today and tomorrow (Monday and Tuesday).”
A hardpack is when snow compacts on the road, turning into a snow-ice mixture that’s adhered to the road, Koeppel explained.
He said the plan was to again have about 20 pieces of equipment out today on state and county roads.
The superintendent cautioned drivers to pay attention and slow down.
“It always seems to be the same thing, but it really does work and it’s the only way,” he said. “You’re going to come across areas that are bare pavement just for a mile or two and then you’re going to have a patch where the drifting’s really heavy and it’ll sneak up on you. So slow down, pay attention, watch for those icy spots.”