Winter in Vermont often welcomes six times the state’s population in nearby
travelers seeking mountain vacations. Convenience to its customers, means that
the approximately 80 million people who live within a day’s drive to Vermont can
ski more, travel less and get there safely.
In 2005, 3.8 million people
visited Vermont in the winter months, December to March, reported by Erica
Houskeeper, Director of Communications at the Vermont Department of Tourism and
Marketing. While most travel by automobile, Burlington International Airport
Director Brian Searles said that flights have reached record numbers, with 2007
receiving the highest amount of visitors and snowfall to date.
“We are
equipped to handle skiers and their equipment,” Searles said. “We are a
destination airport, snow comes with the territory and we are not troubled by
weather delays.”
In a separate conversation on roadway safety with John
Zicconi, the Communications Director for the Vermont Agency of Transportation,
we chalked up Vermont ease in navigation to one factor…avalanches. We don’t have
them.
But in all seriousness, getting to the surface of the state’s
conditions is easier than scraping your windshield. VTrans, the Vermont Agency
of Transportation is a well oiled machine with scores of vehicles, mechanics and
drivers eager to pound that pavement, with dirt.
“In recent years, I
remember times when every region in northern New England declared a state of
emergency,” Zicconi said. “And we did not.”
People lucky enough to be in
the state in 2007, the snowiest calendar year on record, often recall one storm
with romantic nostalgia, unlike the cookie-cutter holidays of past; people still
talk about getting dumped on Feb 14.
”The Valentine’s Day blizzard last
year was Vermont’s second largest storm on record and there was not one fatality
due to travel in the state.” Zicconi said. That day, Burlington, the state's
official snow measure location, received 25.7 inches in 24 hours, which was the
second largest one-day dump in the state’s history. Some locations that day –
Mount Mansfield for example, recorded as much as three feet of snow in a 24-hour
period, Zicconi said.
He was not saying that no accidents occurred and
speculated that surely someone, somewhere drove off a road, but consistently
spoke of the folks in the field. “Our crews literally worked round the clock
that day – as they would during any big storm – to keep our roadways safe and as
passable as possible,” he said.
VTrans manages 3,200 miles of state
highways, U.S. highways and Interstate highways. Local municipalities also
maintain their own plows and roads, but VTrans backs the spine of Vermont’s
roadway with this artillery:
- 250 plow trucks.
- 61 Garages spread
out all over the state.
- 2-6 trucks per garage with support vehicles such as
loaders and graders.
- On average 1.3 operators per truck (includes relief
drivers).
- Nine statewide districts with their own mechanics for repairs at
any time.
- 13 miles of road per truck (average).
- Often takes 1-2 hours
to do a “round” of plowing and replenish sand and salt loads.
- An Operations
Center provides support and communications to crews 24/7 during a storm.
Much like the skiers and riders awaiting the snow report for good news,
VTrans crews watch the forecasts, eager for the opportunity to keep those
highways safe. “We don’t do anything special to get ready for a winter storm as
we are always stocked up with salt and have our trucks ready,” Zicconi said.
“Our crews live for the big storm!”
SNOW FLURRIES AND FLIGHT FACTS
The Southern Vermont Regional Airport in Rutland and Burlington
International Airport, BTV welcome skiers and riders. BTV offers 49 arrivals and
departures per day, on six major carries from 14 hub locations. In 2007, 1.52
million travelers flew into BTV and blizzards were not detrimental. “We have a
crew of maintenance technicians whose motto is ‘catch the flakes on the way
down’ and we take pride in the fact that we don’t have delays or close, only
under the most extreme of conditions,” Searles said.
BTV received 131.6
inches of snow during calendar year 2007. This is the snowiest calendar year on
record, as reported by J. Gregory Gerdel, Research and Operations Chief at the
Department of Tourism & Marketing.
The following are Top Five
snowiest calendar years at Burlington:
1.) 131.6" 2007
2.) 129.6"
1993 3.) 125.5" 1966
4.) 124.4" 1971
5.) 121.6" 1972
The following
are the Top Five snowiest seasons starting in July and ending in June of the
following year at Burlington:
1.) 145.4" 1970-1971
2.) 122.4"
2000-2001
3.) 116.9" 1992-1993
4.) 111.6" 1965-1966
5.) 108.9"
1971-1972
