Winter storm update: Most of snowfall yet to come in Ann Arbor area
The National Weather Service still expects a total snowfall of 5 to 9 inches in the Ann Arbor area from today's winter storm, but as of 4:15 p.m., only 2.5 inches of snow had fallen, said Dennis Kahlbaum, University of Michigan weather observer.
Crews have been able to keep roads mostly clear throughout the day, said Jim Harmon, operations director for the Washtenaw County Road Commission. A crash this morning on eastbound I-94 near Michigan Avenue killed one person.
A fatal crash on eastbound I-94 near Michigan Avenue caused a big backup Tuesday morning.
Angele J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
The Road Commission's full fleet of 46 trucks will continue to salt and plow until 8 p.m. when a four-person night crew will take over to focus on the state highways, Harmon said. "We will have staff moderating throughout the evening and can modify that if needed," he said. The entire fleet will be back on again at 4 a.m. Wednesday and will likely work a long day, he said.
Kahlbaum said the amount of snowfall the area receives depends on what happens with three low pressure systems that are merging into one larger one. The strongest one is to the south over Alabama, and it could pull the system that is bringing snow to Michigan farther south. If that happens, snowfall totals will likely be toward the lower end of the weather service's forecast.
The storm sent some area residents shopping for tools to deal with it. The hottest selling item at Stadium Hardware in Ann Arbor this afternoon was ice melter, said Skip Hackbarth, a partner at the store. Snow shovels and windshield scrapers were also popular. "It always puts a fire underneath people when we get a little bit of snow. There's a shovel going out the door right now."
At Larry's Mower Shop in Scio Township, lots of people have been bringing in snow throwers that won't start, said Bob Blakeman, one of the owners. As for snow blowers, the store has sold three or four today, he said, though he expects more people will be shopping Wednesday if several inches of snow fall.
A winter storm warning remains in effect until 10 a.m. Wednesday. The weather service says. Snow will diminish toward sunrise, but the wind will begin to increase making travel hazardous through the morning commute. Conditions should improve by late morning, the weather service said.
Comments
stephanie
Wed, Feb 10, 2010 : 6:16 a.m.
Just think of all the money the city can make off of this. We received a ticket monday afternoon after all of the snow had melted because the "community standards" division said we had snow and ice on our sidewalk. We had cleared it after the last snow and anything remaining had melted. (We also live on a dead end street and no one uses the sidewalk in question.) It's just another fundraiser for a city with the most extravagant mayor and city council that refuses to live within it's means. I wonder how many heart attacks will occur because of people having to rush out to shovel the snow so the city can make a few bucks. The irony is that it is from a "community standards" division that has no standards. We complained to them about our neighbor who left the apples from his trees fall to the ground and rot for months drawing raccoons, rats, cats and squirrels and the odor was unbelievable. The "community standards" unit did nothing. We have also complained about this neighbors fence being unpainted and his not trimming the weeds around the fence because he expects us to do it. Maybe someone from "community standards" could write an article and explain just what community standards they have. It certainly appears that there are none except when they can rip off the taxpayers some more. It would be nice if they had real standards and made some effort to protect our property values.
LDR
Tue, Feb 9, 2010 : 10:22 p.m.
AAPS just announced closing tomorrow via the new Powerschool voice mail system. Message received from Liz Margolis, District spokeswoman.
LDR
Tue, Feb 9, 2010 : 10:20 p.m.
AAPS is closed for Wednesday--via the new telephone notification system.
Jeff S
Tue, Feb 9, 2010 : 9:51 p.m.
Glad to see the best hardware store in world mentioned in the article!
ChelseaChris
Tue, Feb 9, 2010 : 7:22 p.m.
That picture is NOT from i94 near Michigan Ave exit. It is 3 lanes in that area and the picture is clearly from a 2 lane section of freeway. Even if the right or left lanes are snowed over, there is not enough room for a lane in the picture. Is this just a stock photo?
queenmom
Tue, Feb 9, 2010 : 7:09 p.m.
When I was driving home at 4pm through Washtenaw County the roads were NOWHERE near "mostly clear." we need to close the schools now because Washtenaw County has the WORST snow removal of any local county.
belboz
Tue, Feb 9, 2010 : 6:52 p.m.
Hey, Ann Arbor Schools - how about announcing School Closings now and not risk it tomorrow. It is count day after all, and you don't want to risk having kids stay home because of bad weathr, even if schools are open. I should have made sure to put that down on my budget initiatives. Being proactive never hurt anyone.