Date: Fri 15-Dec-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

weather-winter-snow

Full Text:

Winter Comes On Strong

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

If it's any consolation, more than three feet of snow fell in Buffalo, N.Y.,

this week.

While Newtown accumulated only three to four inches last weekend, the

accompanying Artic temperatures and the storm that began early Thursday have

meant slick roads, patches of ice on sidewalks and problems for anyone who

didn't shovel while the snow was still new and powdery.

"Actually, we didn't sell as many shovels as we usually do with the winter's

first big storm," said Tony Summo at Newtown Hardware. "It's probably because

the snow last weekend turned to freezing rain. But it got so cold that it

really left a problem with ice, so we've sold an incredible amount of salt and

sand."

By Wednesday the hardware store had already sold 200 50-pound bags of salt,

more than 2,000 bags of sand, nearly 200 bags of tube sand, and 125 bags of

rock salt, not to mention gallons of windshield wiper fluid and dozens of ice

scrapers.

"We just got five more palates of salt and have ordered seven more of sand,"

Mr Summo said. "This despite the fact that we already have put in a big supply

for the winter.

By comparison, town crews already have used an enormous quantity of salt and

sand. Road crews worked from 5:15 am Saturday to 1:30 am Sunday, putting 720

yards of sand and 117 tons of salt on local streets. Public Works Director

Fred Hurley said there were also 545 hours of overtime by road crews on the

weekend.

Icy conditions brought crews out again at 4 am on Monday. By 3:30 pm, crews

had spread 267 yards of sand and 44« tons of salt. On Thursday the storm

started slowly, allowing road crews to begin their day as usual at 7 am.

The hardware store was busy all day Wednesday as shoppers tried to get ready

for the storm that was expected to bring two to four inches of snow on

Thursday morning and change to rain and sleet during the afternoon. The

temperatures were expected to climb to nearly 40 by the weekend, however,

bringing an end to the bitter weather which began when a high-pressure system

moved in from Canada last Saturday. Temperatures dropped into the teens and

single digits at night, and climbed only until the upper 20s for the first

half of the week.

Such low temperatures are unusual for December in Newtown in recent years. But

that hasn't always been the case. Twenty-five years ago Newtown recorded its

third snowfall of the season by this week, with a 3-4 inch snowfall that kept

snowplows busy. No accidents were reported, however, and all schools closed at

the usual time. Fifty years ago, "extreme cold temperatures" were among the

reasons given why some veterans were unable to attend the party held at the

Alexandria Room in Edmond Town Hall for the local soldiers who had just

returned from World War II.

Last weekend's storm was part of a huge cold wave that spread across much of

the East and deep into the South, where Baton Rouge, La, had a record low

Monday of 23 degrees and International Falls, Minn., hit 25 below zero. Nearly

three dozen deaths from hypothermia and weather-related accidents were

reported from Wisconsin to Georgia, including 15 in Iowa.

In upstate New York, about a dozen shoppers spent a night in the Salmon Run

Mall when three feet of snow fell, preventing them from leaving the parking

lot. Red Cross workers tried to reach them but couldn't get through so the

shoppers spent the night with the mall manager and security personnel,

sleeping on furniture in the stores and eating food from the mall's

restaurants. Maybe completing their Christmas shopping, too.

( Associated Press reports were used in compiling this article.)