Beatrice snow crews ready for holiday weekend storm

BEATRICE -  Southeast Nebraska and the city of Beatrice are preparing for the first winter weather activity of the season and it comes as we get ready to ring in the New Year.

Earlier this week, Beatrice streets and sanitation put deicer on local roadways. Today, streets and landfill superintendent Jason Moore talked about preparations a day ahead of the storm.

“We used a product called apex meltdown, we apply it to the streets at 15 gallons per lane mile,” Moore said.

On Friday morning, a dense fog rolled through the area, leaving behind a slipper frost that covered trees, cars, and roadways. Having put down their material on Wednesday, Moore says this was the perfect opportunity for the deicer to kick in.

“You can really tell that the material is working because the streets are black. Last night, they were gray, the material hadn’t dried to the surface,” Moore said. “So when you see that the streets are black, that’s the product actually pulling the moisture. So instead of letting the frost bond to the surface and become slick, it’s keeping the roadway wet.”

A possible challenge for the city is the fact that this storm will hit during a holiday weekend. Moore recounted a storm a few years back that hit on Black Friday in which the city had to work hard on roadways due to heavy traffic from shoppers. As far as how the holiday will effect work on this storm, it will all depend on timing.

“This one’s going to be tough on us also if it comes in the early AM hours,” Moore said. “I’m really hoping it waits and doesn’t start until 5-6 AM. That way most of the people who may have been out partying, having a good time, enjoying New Year’s Eve, hopefully they’re all home by then.”

Moore also encourages drivers to give snow plows room. Despite plows having warning signs staying back a certain distance, many still follow directly behind, thinking it’s safer for travel. However, that’s not the case. To give plows the ability to know their surroundings, it’s safer to keep a distance.

“It’s extremely important because your blind spot in a vehicle is small, but in a snow plow its very large, and it’s right behind the plow.”

The current forecast calls for the storm to bring 5-8 in. of snow to the area and will begin in the early Saturday morning hours.