Howard History

1991: Expensive start to winter

By mid-January, the county had spent about $200,000 - half of its snow removal budget - cleaning up after three snowstorms in the previous three weeks.

Snow removal, maintenance and labor costs totaled about $182,000 for the Dec. 27, Jan. 7 and Jan. 11 storms.

"The long-range forecast is for warmer-than-normal temperatures, but also more precipitation than normal," said Jim Irvin, the county public works director. "So it's anybody's guess as to what's going to happen."

Altogether, the county used 2,200 tons of salt, 1,300 tons of cinders, 10,300 gallons of fuel, 54 bags of calcium and paid for 2,325 overtime hours to clear the county's 750 miles of roads, Irvin said.