Athens County received a total snowfall of 8-12 inches depending on the area between Jan. 5-7.
The snow was caused by a low-pressure system, especially a mid-latitude cyclone over the Rocky Mountains. This was formed by a cold front from Canada colliding with a warm front carried by a jet stream from the South.
“Our jet stream is a lot more fluctuating right now,” James Zinnbauer, the webmaster from Scalia Laboratory, said. “When we have troughs that bring down cold air and ridges that push up warmer air, that's going to be strong temperature contrast will generate a lot of (snow).”
The cyclone was then blown east. The northeastern part of a cyclone typically has precipitation, which is the part that passes over the Mid-Ohio Valley causing the snow.
“The interactions between troughs and ridges might be somewhere in a transition zone where you have a lot of moisture, cold air, all kinds of interacting,” Zinnbauer said. “We could see low pressure develop in this region and could be snow for some parts of the United States, depending on where it is.”
Due to all of the snow, Rodney Smith, the Sheriff of the Athens County Sheriff’s Office, issued a level three snow emergency Jan. 5 at 11:20 p.m.
The levels are determined by the deputies from the Athens County Sheriff’s Office out patrolling. Level one means snow is on the road and to be cautious while level two means there is even more snow and to stay off the roads unless necessary.
Level three snow emergencies can only be determined after a discussion between Smith, the supervisor of the Ohio Department of Transportation and the county engineer. This level means everything should be shut down and people should only be out for emergencies or have a job that permits it.
“The last level three, the snow wouldn't let up, and we just couldn't get the roads to where we felt they were safe enough to have people driving the roads,” Smith said.
People can check the Athens County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook, Instagram, website or app to check for snow emergencies. In addition, Athens residents can also check their radio or news stations.
“We just want to give you the best snapshot of what the roadways look like by putting out these snow levels,” Smith said. “It's just really for the community to be safe and know what the snow levels are, and we just want to get that information out as quickly as we can to the people.”
The city is in charge of plowing and salting if needed while residents are in charge of shoveling and salting the sidewalks on their property.
In an Ohio Snow Removal Public Service Announcement posted by the City of Athens, the city emphasized the importance of property owners and their residences determining who should shovel the sidewalks on their properties.
At Ohio University, most of the snow removal is done by facilities management’s ground staff. The staff uses mechanical equipment to remove snow from sidewalks and building entrances.
The custodial staff also helps by removing snow from the sidewalks and stairs which cannot be reached with equipment. The different shops that makeup OU’s maintenance and operations also sometimes help by doing smaller assignments and hand work.
“When we get a really heavy snow, like what we had a week ago, (maintenance and operations) pitch in and help,” Steve Mack, the executive director of facilities management, said. “They will take care of doing some of that hand work. It's a group effort, but it is facilities management that takes care of it.”
The status of the university being open is determined by the President’s Office. Facilities management, however, is consulted on this decision.
It is also important for facilities management to prepare for snow. Mack said when they know Athens will receive a large amount of snow, they have workers come in early and salt if the weather conditions permit.
“We try to make sure the campus is ready to start receiving people at about 7:30 in the morning if we're open,” Mack said. “If we're in a closed status … that's a little bit of a different process as well. It all just kind of depends on the situation we're in. When we are not in session, we have a lot more time to address it.”
With two months of winter still left, Zinnbauer thinks it will be very variable throughout the remainder of January into February.
“I wouldn't be surprised if we had several more cold snaps and kind of warm blasts throughout the season and plenty more precipitation,” Zinnbauer said.
As of Sunday, Scalia Laboratory predicts mostly cloudy weather for the next six days with Thursday being mostly sunny and Sunday bringing possible snow. Tuesday and Wednesday will have lows below zero degrees, Thursday will have a single digit low and Friday through Sunday the low will reach double digits.
