While most Nevadans were nestled all snug in their beds or cuddled on the couch this Christmas, the holiday snow storms were a call to action for Nevada of Department Transportation snow plow crews.
“We put in 28 hours from Christmas eve to Christmas day,” said West Wendover chief Donnie Anderson Wednesday. “And looking at the weather we are by no means finished.”
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The storms or rather series of storms struck northern Nevada Christmas Eve day and with just a few hour respite on Christmas day, resumed Christmas night.
At one point in the early morning hours of December 26th chains or snow tires were mandatory from the Utah border to California on Interstate 80.
Yet despite this almost overwhelming deluge not a single major accident was reported over the three day snowfall in the state.
Most of the credit goes to the unsung heroes of the NDOT.
“I learned early on that you really can’t beat Mother Nature,” said NDOT Wendover crew chief Donnie Anderson last year in an interview with the High Desert Advocate. “But you can put up a good fight.”
Anderson and his crew have the responsibility to keep the roads clear from the Utah state line to the foot of the Pequop to the west, Lages Station to the south and the Montello road and all other minor state roads in the area.
Sometimes it is a thankless task.
“There are times that the snow falls faster than you can remove it,” Anderson added. “You just got to keep on going there are a lot of people who depend on us. Sometimes we pull 16 hours shifts just enough to get some sleep and then back on the road again. But it is work that has to get done.”
And for the past three years it is a job that has to get done for less and less.
Now in its third year of billion dollar plus budget shortfalls the NDOT like all state agencies is gearing up for another round of cuts.
“So far despite the cuts we have been able to keep on top of things,” Anderson said. “The governor has been real good about authorizing every thing we need during a storm. But it does take a lot of paper work. some are talking about contracting out to private companies for snow removal but there is no way anyone can do it more efficiently or cheaper than our crews.”
“Our guys know they are needed and they will go above and beyond to keep the roads clear,” He added. “They know that a lot is depending on them, some times peoples lives and they take their responsibilities seriously.”
A visit to the West Wendover station reveals just how serious these men take their jobs.
Despite of 12 and 16 hours shifts the station itself is immaculate worthy of a military inspection.
The snow plows are gleaming and obviously in tip top shape. There is not a single tool out of place and the sand and salt mix reserves spread by the plows in their wake is topped off.
“It takes about 30 minutes to do a walk through before you go out on the road,” anderson explained. “These are heavy, expensive and complicated machines. it doesn’t make a lot of sense to get out on the road and break down because you missed something or forgot to do something.”
Thanks to satellite tracking and improved communications road warriors have a much better lead time to prepare before a storm than they did even a decade ago.
“The national weather service is excellent about giving us advance warning,” Anderson said. “before a storm hits we have usually have about three hours to prepare. that can be a life saver. Still when a monster storm hits, it hits hard. We know what we are in for.”
According to Anderson this year has been in the middle for snow fall.
“It has been heavier than some lighter than others,” He added. “we have another three months to go I will tell you when the season is over.”
The worst season Anderson remembers is the winter of 92-93.
“It was incredible.” He recalled. “We had literally tons and tons of snow and when it wasn’t snowing, it was drifting back across the roads. During the storms people would just stop their cars on the road because they could see or couldn’t get to the shoulder. I almost plowed into one but at the last second saw it. I was able to steer around it stopped and told the driver to follow me and we got through, but it was hairy. the visibility was just about zero even in the plow.”
According to the Discovery Channel driving a snow plow is one of the world’s most dangerous jobs just below fishing in the Bering Sea.
Every winter across the United States dozens of these Road Warriors are injured some are even killed on the job keeping the highways passable and Nevada has one of the best records in clearing snow of all the Rocky Mountain states.
“I am proud of the job we do,” Anderson said. “Sometimes you have to give up a Christmas or a Thanksgiving, storms don’t respect holidays, but we keep the roads open.”