Black Mountain braces for winter weather

Town prepares for snowy weekend, advises citizens to stay off roads

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
January 14, 2022

Town of Black Mountain Public Works crews are preparing for the first significant snow of the winter, as a winter storm watch goes into effect for Western North Carolina from Saturday, Jan. 15 - Monday, Jan. 17. Photo by Fred McCormick

Town of Black Mountain Public Works crews are preparing for a busy weekend, as the National Weather Service - Greenville Spartanburg issued a winter storm watch from Saturday, Jan. 15 through Monday, Jan. 17, throughout Western North Carolina, including the Swannanoa Valley.

With heavy mixed precipitation likely, and expected snow accumulations of 6 - 10 inches, according to the NWS GSP, town officials are asking citizens to stay off the roads if possible, to allow staff to work. 

“That’s the main thing,” said Town Manager Josh Harrold. “We’re really asking everyone to not be out driving until the roads are clear, unless it’s an emergency, but even then you should call 911.”

Motorists are also being asked to not park on the streets, in an effort to allow public works crews to clear the roads. 

“This helps us get the roads clean as quickly as possible,” Harrold said. “In a lot of these situations, we’ll have cars that get stuck, and that can keep us from clearing an entire road. Our staff will be working around the clock, so we need the community to help us with this.”

Harrold and town officials, including Black Mountain Police and Fire chiefs and Public Works Director Jamey Matthews, have been monitoring the forecasts throughout the week, he said. 

“It seems likely we’re going to get some snow here,” he said. “We’re as ready as we can be.” 

Public works crews pre-treated roads in the town’s highest elevation on Friday, according to Matthews.  The “high country,” which includes Timber Park Drive and Hunting Lodge Acres near Lakey Gap Road, and Black Mountain Estates above the golf course, is one of six zones within town limits that will be cleared regularly throughout the storm. 

“For those areas that are harder to get to, we treat those roads in advance to allow us to get access once it starts to snow,” Matthews said. “Those treatments get on the road before it snows, and once they hit a certain temperature, they should help melt it from the bottom, up.” 

A snow removal contractor will clear the high country throughout the storm, he added, while six public works trucks focus on the town’s other five zones. 

“For the rest of the zones, we wait for the first layer of snow to fall, which allows us to get underneath it, and keeps the plow from running over the top of it,” Matthews said. “Each truck is assigned a route, and depending on how fast the snow is falling, once they finish those streets, it’s time to start over again.”

Eight public works staff will work a day shift, according to the department head, while 11 employees will be scheduled Saturday night. 

“Our goal is to keep the roads clear,” he said. “But, if the snow is coming down too fast to keep up, we’ll make sure to have a lane of travel to make sure emergency vehicles can respond to calls.” 

Matthews reiterated the importance of keeping the roads clear while crews are working. 

“It’s not just cars, we need pedestrians to be aware,” he said. “In recent years we’ve seen a lot of people out walking around when it snows, which is completely understandable. But, we need people to be aware of their surroundings. Once these trucks are out there pushing snow in these conditions, it’s difficult for them to slow down to avoid pedestrians, especially around curves like Laurel Circle Drive.” 

The town announced, Jan. 14, that trash and recycling collections services were canceled on Monday, Jan.17, due to the storm. 

“We will run trash pick-up on Tuesday (Jan. 18), if the road conditions are safe,” Matthews said. “If not, we will likely push those collection days back until the following week.” 

The town will update residents of changes to the sanitation schedule and storm-related issues through townoflbackmountain.org, and on the Town of Black Mountain Facebook page. 

In a statement released on its website today, Duke Energy warned of possible power outages stemming from the storm. 

“Heavy, wet snow or freezing precipitation can cause trees and tree limbs to fall or sag onto power lines, resulting in power outages, the release stated. “These outages typically occur when there is more than six inches of wet snow or a quarter of an inch of ice accumulation on trees.”

The statement, which is linked here, advised customers to ensure they had an adequate supply of flashlights, batteries, bottled water, medicines and non-perishable food items. Customers can report an outage by texting OUT to 57801 or may also report an outage or view current outages on the Duke Energy app or at www.duke-energy.com/outages.