December snow and windstorm: Are these now normal?

The snow and windstorm that walloped the Mat-Su on Christmas was a 50-year or maybe 100-year event. Or was it?

Not long ago there was that winter windstorm. Another 50-year event?

Are intense winter storms becoming normal? Could be.

Palmer city council members speculated these could happen more frequently than thought.

At the council’s Jan. 10 meeting city council members John Alcantra asked whether the city should add contingencies for extra equipment and people, to be prepared for future events. No decisions were made and the weather is, after all, unknowable.

But late December was not a pleasant experience for Palmer residents and city workers who braved intense bad weather through long hours to clear drifting snow that became hard-packed in the wind, Palmer city manager John Moosey said.

“By itself, the snow wasn’t a problem. We’re used to snow,” Moosey said. But when the winds came – a blizzard, really – the snow drifted, refilling streets almost as soon as crews cleared them. “The wind caused the snow to harden almost like concrete,” Moosey said.

The city’s aging equipment fleet struggled, and there was stress on city workers, too after 14-hour days. A “dog-bone,” an iron support in one of the pieces of heavy equipment, broke under the stress to put one machine out of commission for several days until a replacement part, at a cost of $4,700, could be sent from the Lower 48.

Palmer’s street layouts created challenges, too. “There are 41 cul-de-sacs,” through the city’s residential areas, said Jude Bilafer, the city public works director. “Each one requires three hours to clear, with one loader and five dump trucks,” Bilafer said, which explains why it took so long o clear city streets. The length of the snow hauls to dumping areas contributed to the problem.

Meanwhile, parked vehicles in the streets covered in deep snow created another problems for the city crews. “Palmer people love their toys, and the lots are small,” Bilafer told the council. With parking space tight, vehicles tend to spill out into the streets. Covered in a foot or more of snow, parked cars slow the clearing becaue equipment operators have to streer around them.

The city now has a procedure to deal with this, Bilafer said. Palmer police are enlisted to take down license numbers of snow-covered cards, and owners are contacted. They are given a decent time to move the the vehicles and if it isn’t done a tow truck is called with the tow and storage paid for by the vehicle owner.

There was mostly cooperation during the December storm, Bilafer said. Eight vehicle owners moved their cars and only three had to be towed, he told the council.With many streets essentially impassable because of hard-packed snow drifts, council member John Alcantra said he worried about senior citizens stuck In homes, isolated by the snow. He asked if the city had a list of seniors and where they lived, and a special plan to aid evacuations.

Moosey said there was no special list of seniors but that the city has a long-established priority list for clearing streets with streets color-coded for actions. Also, the city fire department is fully equipped to clear a path in emergencies, he said. “Fortunately we had no emergencies, or at least that we know of,” Moosey said.