Officials ask for patience with snow

City officials asked for patience from the public Tuesday in the aftermath of the unusual weekend snowfall.

Public Works Director Clint Bunch said city crews have been working non-stop since Saturday just trying to keep main artery roads clear and as safe as possible.

“You’ll notice the arterials are in good shape,” said Bunch.

Bunch acknowledges side streets and neighborhoods are a mess but said they won’t likely see any plows because there is nowhere to put such deep snow. Plowing the still deep snow would only block driveways and piling snow up only blocks vision and creates traffic hazards. Bunch said problem areas will be evaluated and addressed.

Bunch noted crews have encountered snow from 10 to 12 inches deep since cleanup efforts started.

“Usually when we get snow it melts in a couple of days,” said Bunch. “People just have to be patient. Ten to 12 inches ... that’s a lot of snow.”

It doesn’t look to get much better during the next 24 hours. While sunshine and temperatures in the 40s Tuesday helped melt some of the snow, overnight temperatures were being forecast in the 20s to high teens with a wind chill of about 1 degree. Accuweather was predicting cloudy skies and more snow — 1 to 2 inches — Wednesday and a high of only 24 degrees, prompting Clovis schools set to re-open from the holiday break on a two-hour delay.

Bunch said the city is running its two road graders and five trucks equipped with plows and loaded with sand and salt. On Wednesday, that equipment will concentrate on keeping main roads and streets near schools clear of expected ice buildup. Sand is for traction and salt will speed up melting ice provided there is sunshine to activate the process.

Neither salt nor sand will melt or help remove snow, according to Bunch.