It’s not a matter of if extreme winter weather will hit, but when. Negating its effect is all that matters.

That was the reality at this year’s gathering of American Public Works
Association snow and ice professionals, who came to Grand Rapids,
Mich., April 12–15 to hear strategies for making that happen faster,
how to manage expectations and do some preseason planning.

As part of the four-day event, the biggest exposition floor in the
history of the conference offered opportunities to understand recent
improvements to winter storm fighting equipment. Upstairs during
the educational sessions, presenters from the Midwest and Canada
heard examples of successful emergency management and about
the advantages of utilizing targeted weather data. Two experienced
directors shared technical advice and best-practice usage information
about liquid deicers.

Planning, even for the extreme winter weather event that you hope
will never happen, was a theme reiterated at the conference. For more
information about how to compile that plan, who to include and how
to obtain buy-in, look for upcoming information in The Municipal: or
plan to attend the 2016 APWA North American Snow Conference, which
will take place in Connecticut. Keep tabs on www.apwa.net/Snow for
updates and mark May 22–25 on the calendar.