October 2020

What is El Nino and how do the Tradewinds influence the weather on the east coast? We’ve all heard the terms atmospheric rivers, the polar vortex, Siberian Express and others, but what are they really.  SICOP Talks Winter Ops sits down with Mike Alger, Chief Meteorologist at KTVN, 2 News in Reno, Nevada to talk about what these weather phenomena really are, what sets them in motion, and what do they mean for the maintenance crews.

Mike is no stranger to winter highway maintenance. Many years ago when the Nevada DOT began creating their Road Weather Information System network and the precursor to 511, Mike provided a conduit and explanations to his viewers on the RWIS information and road weather forecasts to improve winter-time commutes in northern Nevada.   Find out more about Mike at https://www.ktvn.com/story/6059462/mike 

Listen in as Mike Alger gives us some insight into these and other weather phenomena maintenance wrestles with every winter.

There are many different alternative methods and equipment available to perform winter maintenance. In this episode Laura Fay from the Western Transportation Institute at the University of Montana talks about a recently completed project for the Clear Roads Pooled Fund Study dealing with Alternative Methods for Deicing. This project helps maintenance managers dealing with snow and ice obtain a better understanding of the performance and impacts of various alternate methods through case studies.

Listen in as we discuss this project Laura Fay. If you would like to learn more about this project and its final report follow this link to the Clear Roads website for this project https://clearroads.org/project/18-05/ or contact Laura Fay at laura.fay1@montana.edu