City plows ready for snow

With the first big winter storm of the season bearing down on Northern Nevada, Carson City Transportation Director Patrick Pittenger said that the city's fleet of snowplows was ready to roll.

"We're ready like we've never been before," Pittenger said. "We've got more equipment than we've ever had before, and more streets to plow than we've ever had before."

Since the state turned over to Carson City some of the major roads within the city limit - like Carson Street, East William Street and Stewart Street - the city has purchased several pieces of new equipment.

"We've got a truck with a plow in front and on the right side, so we can plow a much broader area," he said, "and we've got a huge snowblower that could eat a human being in a second."

Pittenger said crews are also armed with the snow map adopted by the Regional Transportation Commission. It outlines plowing priorities based on a system of primary roads such as Roop Street, Saliman Road and College Parkway, as well as secondary streets and third-priority streets.

"The northwest portion of our city gets more snow, so sometimes it seems like they get more service," he said, but the fact is that the priorities have been established by the RTC based on safety and usage.

Another thing the city has done this year is coordinate the snow routes with the bus routes so that public transportation service won't be disrupted, he said.

"And we always need to make sure we take care of public safety routes for emergency response vehicles," he said.

The National Weather Service in Reno reports that the storm is expected to arrive in two waves - the first was expected to arrive Friday and into the early morning hours today with the snow level dropping into the valleys and bringing cold temperatures with highs in the 20s to 30s today and Sunday.

Meteorologists said the storm might create blizzard-like conditions with road delays and closures.

About 3-5 feet of snow are expected along the Sierra Crest, 2-3 feet at lake level, 12-18 inches in the Sierra foothills and Virginia City, and 5-15 inches on the valley floor.