According to the famed shadow-spotting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, we are in for another six weeks of winter. This makes last week's American Highway Users Alliance press conference on the importance of safe winter driving and road maintenance all the more timely and important.

• Make certain your tires are properly inflated - after all, they're the only part of your car that contacts the roadway!
• Keep your gas tank at least half full. As we saw again in the debacle in Atlanta last week, roads can become impassable without warning, and having enough gas to stay warm and outlast an unexpected delay is essential.
• Do not use cruise control when driving on any slippery surface.
• Accelerate and decelerate slowly - it takes longer to slow down on snowy, icy roads.
• The normal dry pavement following distance of three to four seconds should be increased to eight to 10 seconds.
• Keep emergency supplies in your trunk at all times, such as water, a shovel, kitty litter, blankets, gloves and hats, etc.

Photo cutline: Standing in front of a mountain of salt, left to right, Maintenance Operations Staff Superintendent Jim Andersen, Maintenance Operations Branch Manager Monty Mills, Maintenance Operations Staff Superintendent Jay Wells and Director of Maintenance Operations Chris Christopher. More photos

It was during a hot summer (remember those) that our Snow and Ice Materials Contract Team started researching companies that sold snow and ice-fighting materials such as salt and liquid deicers. The team also considered how we could modify restrictive contract language to attract new bidders, and possibly save the state money.

This effort proved an overwhelming success. Updating the snow and ice materials contract and attracting additional bidders saved Washington close to $6 million in the first two years. As an added bonus, the contact also passed on savings to local government, Washington’s cities and counties. Using the state’s new contract, cities and counties were able to buy lower cost snow and ice-fighting materials.

And, while saving money was a great benefit, it wasn’t the only way the team “saved.” They also secured a much more reliable salt supply, making sure snow and ice-fighting materials are always available to keep drivers and the economy moving.

Monty Mills, our snow and ice lead, says it best. “We encountered a challenge during the 2007-2008 winter. Many will remember this was a very harsh winter across much of the country. Materials, especially road salt, were in short supply and the prices were very high. It made us think we could do this better.”

Over the following spring and summer, Monty and his team researched salt and deicer suppliers, vendors and shipping alternatives to see how to reduce our costs for snow and ice fighting materials, plus secure a reliable source, regardless of weather. In coordination with the state’s General Administration Contract Administration group, they were able to put forth a request for proposals that attracted many new bidders, and ended up with significant savings.
Friday (June 24), the Washington State Productivity Board recognized group with a Teamwork Incentive Program award.

And, while the team could have been eligible for an award of up to $10,000 per person, they turned down this award and received $200 each. "It was part of the job," said Chris Christopher, director of Maintenance Operations. See Saturday's story in The Olympian.

The Snow and Ice Materials Contract Team, based in Thurston County, includes Director of Maintenance Operations Chris Christopher, Maintenance Operations Branch Manager Monty Mills, Maintenance Operations Staff Superintendents Jay Wells and Jim Andersen, retired Contract Specialist Gary Smith, and Department of General Administration State Procurement Officer Robert Paulson Jr.

Forecasts call for heavy rain this weekend and our crews are gearing up in full force. They are out inspecting culverts, catch basins, flood gates, drains and anywhere that standing water may cause challenges for drivers.  We have crews ready to work all weekend to keep roadways open during any storm.

The forecasts we see call for snow in the mountains from Saturday around 4 a.m to Sunday at 4 a.m. and then a warm up on Sunday.  The freezing level could rise to as high as 8,000 ft., so much of that snow will melt and fill drains and rivers.  We watch this closely because, as you may already know, if we get a ton of snow and it starts to warm up we may have to close highways for avalanche control late Saturday evening or first thing Sunday morning.  Of course as we all about a fickle mother nature. This is only the forecast and can change.

Where do we get this weather info from? We get a detailed forecast several times per day from a private forecast service (WeatherNet). We use these forecasts, along with other sources such as the National Weather service, to help us determine staff levels and snow and ice-fighting material applications. We have a few other sources we like to reference and thought we would share them with you:

• National Weather Service 
• Cliff Mass - has great explanations of not just what the weather forecast is but why it will be that way
• Ever wonder what the weather was like a specific day last month?  Check out the weather history calendar offered by Weather Underground.
• University of Washington has several weather services that help tell the story
• Wilbur's Weather
• Atmospheric Sciences weather radar
• Probcast - a probabilistic weather forecast

By guest bloggers Jeff Switzer and Bronlea Mishler

Happy New Year!

Our wish for 2009 goes like this, "Winter, winter ... go away!"

Seriously, we just started winter in Washington and we're already ready for it to be over. The main mountain passes for east-west travel ... the backbone of our state's economy ... are closed today. It looks like Stevens (US 2) and Snoqualmie (I-90) will be closed through the night into tomorrow morning. Eastern Washington is going to get more snow tonight and into tomorrow, too.

We'll have our crews deployed, all available resources are at hand. But even with our best efforts, you should continue to expect winter driving conditions throughout most of Washington.

Here's a shot of crews leading a caravan of folks back off the mountain.

While Western Washington's state highways have mostly returned to normal from the two-week winter blast, the snow just hasn't stopped in Eastern Washington. Close to 60 inches has fallen in the Spokane area, and most of it has not melted.

WSDOT regularly shifts resources around areas and regions. A good weather window in Western Washington allowed us to shift plows to Eastern Region for the next five days. We are shifting five plow trucks and 10 drivers from Olympic Region (two from Aberdeen and three from Tacoma) to Eastern Region to help with the snow removal efforts over there. The Olympic Region crews will be working for Eastern Region Area 1 Superintendent Gary Clemenson in Spokane. Two trucks left from Tumwater last night for the Spokane area. Three more left this morning from Tacoma.

On one level, moving trucks and drivers from one location to another around the state seems like it should be relatively straightforward. However, there are lots of details necessary to pull it off successfully. Just a few include outfitting the trucks, getting the drivers, changing out plow bits, adjusting the radio frequency, working out the details of who would meet them and where they would go once they got to Spokane. There were a host of other details.

Here are some photos of crews switching out the OR's rubber plow bits for steel bits to use in Eastern Region. A quick tidbit...we use rubber plow bits in most parts of Western Washington to protect raised pavement markers. They use recessed pavement markers in most parts of Eastern Washington.

From Jamie Holter in the Seattle Communications office...

We’re being inundated with calls this morning about personal driveways. Folks who live on our state highways are calling and asking us to clear the berm we’ve created as we cleared snow from the road.

In the last two hours, I personally have taken calls from a mom with a new baby and three small kids in Carnation and an elderly couple for whom the need for immediate medical attention is a real possibility.

I called out to our maintenance folks and they are just swamped keeping the roads clear right now. This is another serious snow and they tell me they have a system for keeping the roads clear of snow and ice. If they break off to do a driveway out in Carnation or Aberdeen, the whole system could be thrown into disarray. (Not to mention that every person in Aberdeen or Carnation would want their driveway cleared.)

We know it’s hard especially after seven straight days of this stuff. You might want to consider calling a neighbor and asking them to help you out. Another idea - if you are reading this and you are healthy and looking for something to do, you might want to go knock on a neighbor’s door and offer your services. (I know I shove my teenager out the door to check on our neighbors at times like this.) It is the holidays, after all, and a good deed would certainly be appreciated.

The good news: I just took a tour of the traffic cameras and it appears the snow is turning to rain in the Northwest. YEAH!!!! So perhaps an end is in sight.

If you need assistance, you can call 211. It's the Washington information network and an operator can connect you with health and human service providers: www.win211.org/ .

I just saw the dozers clearing the field for the Seahawks and hope the fans keep warm. More snow is on the way and Gov. Gregoire has asked us all to stay off the road if possible.

We do have a few cameras offline in the Seattle area - I hear it's due to frozen fiber optic cables. If that is the case, that's not something we can fix soon.

Have to say the snow falling right now in Olympia is absolutely beautiful - the big, fluffy flakes. It's unfortunate it creates such a driving hazard.

Please be prepared and take it easy out there.

We will be updating this blog and our Twitter account all day. Stay tuned.

As you can see from Dustin's post - they are getting hit hard in the North Sound and it's moving south. It's been coming down hard in Olympia this morning and I hear from some friends down south that Centralia/Chehalis has snow and ice. And it's moving further south into Cowlitz and Clark counties.

Spokane is also getting hit hard. And it's going to be that way for a while. Snow and ice could come to the Seattle metro area later this afternoon. And the mountain passes could see two feet or more tonight. Bring chains.

If you are going out today, expect winter driving conditions. It doesn't matter where you are or where you are going. You will see snow and ice somewhere. Slow down.

Our crews are out treating, plowing, clearing. And we are watching the forecasts very close.

On the website, you can look at camera images and weather warnings across the state. This will give you a good idea of what the roadways look like. Please check them out. We have also been out getting some photos and video this morning. We'll update when possible. Enjoy - while sitting next to the fire with a cup of hot chocolate, if you can...

As temperatures across the state plunge to what seem like arctic levels, maintenance crews are faced with some unique challenges in their quest to keep the roads drivable. On SR 20, just east of Newhalem, crews battle giant icicles. Seriously.

If you drive SR 20 during the summer, you may not think much of the water that seeps through the rock as you pass through the tunnels east of Newhalem. But in the winter, when the weather drops below freezing, that water can become a hazard for drivers. The icicles that form on the walls and ceiling can get so large that they nearly impede traffic. And the constant dripping of water onto the road creates several icy patches.

Our maintenance crews are up in the area several times a week during cold weather, making sure the icicles don’t grow too large and placing deicer and sand on the road to keep it safe for drivers.