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Winter survival strategies from the USA's snowiest airports

By Harriet Baskas, special for USA TODAY

Like the plowed snow at many airports, registrations for the 45th annual International Aviation Snow Symposium are beginning to pile up. Held each April, most often in snowstorm-prone Buffalo, the symposium bestows awards on airports that excel in battling the white stuff and offers airport staff a chance to chill out and swap war stories about what went right or wrong, weather-wise, during the previous winter.

So far this season, storms have triggered the cancellation of thousands of flights and forced the temporary closing of many airports. That means there'll be plenty to talk about at this year's conference, as attendees try to take in tactics to make you less likely to get stuck at an airport next winter.

But when it comes to operations in unforgiving winter weather, not all airports are created equal. So we asked some past award winners at snow-savvy airports to share their snow-removal strategies.

Art. Not science.

"It's not a science. There's no book out there called Airport Snow Removal for Dummies," says Paul Hoback, maintenance director for the Pittsburgh International and Allegheny County airports. "It's more of an art."

"Experience helps," adds Hoback. "Our people have to know how to treat different types of precipitation and how to react to wind speed and wind direction so they don't push the snow off the runway and have it blow right back on. They also have to understand what different types of ice and snow might do when they hit the ground."

That knowledge, good planning and communication and the right equipment were all in place at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) last February 5th when a storm dumped more than 20 inches of snow at the airport.

"The storm was too much for many airports in the Northeast," says Hoback, "And even we ended up closing for 17 hours. Our crews took that as a defeat but fought to get the airfield back open so that one or two airplanes with transplant organs aboard could land."

For its efforts during that storm, Pittsburgh airport won one of a coveted Balchen/Post Awards at last year's International Aviation Snow Symposium. Dulles International Airport, Chicago O'Hare and the Greater Rochester International Airport took home first-place awards as well.

Equipment helps

At Boston Logan International Airport, which won a Balchen/Post Award in 2009, airport spokesperson Richard Walsh says, "We consider snow a four letter word. We go out there and battle storms to the end."

Logan was closed for a just a few hours last Wednesday during a storm that dumped heavy snow on parts of New England. In Logan's corner during that storm: a snow plan, determination and eleven, 68-foot long Vammas snow machines, each a giant plow, sweeper and blower rolled-into-one. When working in unison, airport officials boast that the Vammas fleet can clear a 10,000 foot runway in less than 15 minutes.

Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, which hosts the annual aviation snow symposium, has won the Balchen/Post award multiple times. And although it gets an average of more than 8 feet of snow a year, it's been more than three years since BUF has had to close due to snow.

"At the first snowflake we'll send out a whole fleet of broom trucks to immediately begin brushing the pavement," says airfield superintendent Tom Dames. "When snow piles up, we also have monster truck snow blowers that churn up snow and spit it out into the fields away from the runway. It looks a lot like fireboats shooting out plumes of water; except these are huge plumes of snow."

Do-over in Denver

A few years back, Denver International Airport learned some important snow lessons the hard way.

In 2006, just days before Christmas, Denver got hit with a blizzard that dumped 22 inches of snow in a 24-hour period. "The airport was closed for 22 hours," says Mark Nagel, Denver Airport's Acting Deputy Manager of Aviation. "It took us that long to clean up and get a couple of runways and our ramps clear."

3,000 passengers spent their Christmas stranded at Denver airport that year. Nagel says "No one was too thrilled. We did kind of receive a black eye for that because it took us so long to recover."

The problem was too big to sweep under a pile of snow. Instead, a consultant was hired; a study was conducted and DIA learned that, when it came to snow, the airport was inefficient, unorganized, understaffed and armed with not enough equipment.

The fixes included retraining, reorganizing and reassessing snow removal priorities. And now, like other airports, DIA has a snow committee that meets year-round with airlines, the FAA and other airport stakeholders to make sure the snow control plan is realistic and up-to-date.

Denver International Airport has also invested millions of dollars in new equipment and switched from single-function to more modern multi-function machinery that can plow and sweep at the same time. "So instead of taking 45-minutes to an hour to clear a runway, we can now do it in less than 15 minutes" says Ron Morin, Denver Airport's Director of Aviation Field Maintenance.

And instead of having a single snow team, the Denver airport now has eight; each with a dedicated function. Team members were offered the chance to name their machines, but they asked instead to name their teams. Now, whenever it snows, you'll see the Snow Cats, the Marauders, the Taxi Way Tuxedoes, the Blizzard Busters, the Deice Men Cometh, the Ramp Rats and the Snow Dawgs taking care of business.

Advice from Anchorage and Mother Nature

Anchorage International Airport has won the Balchen/Post award four times and is always ready for snow. "Our snow season lasts from October through mid-April," says Airfield Maintenance manager Dan Frisby. "At other airports it will snow and then melt. Here, the snow can stick around all year long."

Frisby and assistant manager Zaramie Lindseth know the airport has been closed due to volcanic ash, a windstorm, the 1964 earthquake and, like other U.S. airports, for a few days after 9/11. But they can find no records that show the airport has ever been closed due to ice or snow.

In addition to having the right equipment, Frisby says it's important that airports maintain their equipment and not skimp on the cost of crews and supplies. "Some airports try and hold back on the chemicals. And it just bites you. You've got to go into attack mode when a storm starts and use the chemicals as they were designed."

No matter how well an airport prepares, though, sometimes snow happens and there's really nothing anyone can do.

"When Denver International Airport opened, it was touted as the all-weather airport," says DIA's Mark Nagel. "They said 'We'll never close.' But we've learned the hard way that you have to respect Mother Nature and balance safety with the goal of staying open."

Harriet Baskas writes about travel etiquette for MSNBC.com and is the author of the airport guidebook 'Stuck at the Airport' and a blog of the same name.

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Too cold for recess? School policies vary as much as temps

By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

When is it too cold for schoolchildren to go outside for recess? The answer varies widely based on where a school is located and what the kids are used to.

Consider: One northern Minnesota school says it has to be 15 below zero before kids are kept inside. But in areas along the East Coast, temperatures below 35 to 40 degrees could keep kids inside.

Canceling recess because of the cold is no small issue given that much of the USA is shivering through what may be its coldest winter in a generation, according to AccuWeather.

There is no national temperature standard for when to keep kids inside during the winter months, the U.S. Department of Education says. Decisions are made at the local level, either by principals or school districts.

•In International Falls, Minn., the self-described "Icebox of the Nation," where the average high temperature in January is a frosty 13 degrees, Falls Elementary School Principal Jerry Hilfer says, "if it's 15 below (or warmer), they go out, no matter what."

"At 20 below, it gets iffy," he adds.

•In Upper Marlboro, Md., at Mattaponi Elementary School, the school website says students have outdoor recess unless the temperature drops to the 35 and 40 degree range.

•Elsewhere in Minnesota, many other schools do not send students outside for recess if the temperature is below zero. That's been the standard at Lincoln Elementary in St. Cloud, Minn., for as long as anyone can remember, Principal Chris Blauer says. Wind chill also is considered, she says.

•If it's above zero, all students at Pine Meadow Elementary in Sartell, Minn., are expected to come to school dressed properly to go outside, Principal Greg Johnson says. Spending some time outside every day makes students better learners in the classroom, he says.

"Students need that time," Johnson says. "The fresh air and exercise are really important."

•In Wicomico County, Md., principals typically keep children indoors when temperatures dip below freezing, or if it's raining or snowing, says Susan Jones, the school system's director of elementary education.

"Common sense prevails. That's the bottom line," says Curtis Twilley, principal of Pemberton Elementary School in Salisbury, Md. Twilley says students get little exercise when recess stays indoors. At Pemberton Elementary, the students will typically play board games or computer games in a classroom because the school's gym is occupied with other classes, he says.

•For schools in Marquette, Mich., which averages about 12 feet of snow per season, school officials acknowledge students are probably a little more prepared than those in some more moderate climates.

"We all kind of adhere to the same general rule," says Mike Woodard, principal at Superior Hills Elementary School. If the temperature is below zero, that's the ambient temperature or the wind chill, "we'll usually keep them in."

•At Asheville, N.C., City Schools, "if it's much below 40 degrees we just don't go out," says Michele Lemell, safe schools and healthy living coordinator.

Sometimes, when it's too cold, students go up and down stairs inside, Lemell says. The idea is to make sure students move during the day. "Obesity is not only a national concern, it's a certainly a concern right here at home," she says.

•In the East Hanover, N.J., K-8 school district, if the temperature dips below 35 degrees or if there is ice or snow on the playground, principals make the call to stay indoors during recess, says Superintendent Joseph Ricca. There is no written policy.

"They make the announcement over the p.a. (public address) system and when (students) hear it's an indoor day you hear the awwws throughout the building and when they hear it's an outdoor day you hear the cheers," Ricca says.

•In the Utica Community Schools in suburban Detroit, Michigan's second-largest school district, spokesman Tim McAvoy says, "the bottom line is student safety. It's not a decision that you can paint with a broad brush."

Principals ultimately decide after consulting with staffers and others. They take into account the wind-chill factor, precipitation and other weather conditions, McAvoy says.

That's fine with Brenda Bullock, 38, of Sterling Heights, Mich., whose two children attend Havel Elementary School. "I do think it's good that the principal has the final call," Bullock says. "It could be 40 mph wind gusts at our school and just fine somewhere else."

Bullock says she likes to see the kids get outside to burn off energy and the kids want to go outside as well.

•In Indiana, Kim Hooper, spokeswoman for Indianapolis Public Schools, says "we don't have any written policy. We leave that to the judgment of our building principals."

At Wayne Township on the city's west side, principals at the 11 elementary schools take weather into consideration if the temperature reads at freezing or below, says Mary McDermott Lang, district spokeswoman.

"There is no magical degree rule," Lang says. "Wind chill, precipitation and playground conditions — like whether there is ice and the ground is slick — are also factors."

In Washington Township Schools, administrators let temperatures drop a little further before keeping kids indoors. Again there is no set temperature rule, but when the wind chill measures at 20 degrees or below, principals examine weather conditions and safety for students, says Superintendent Jim Mervilde.

"There is no doubt about it that this kind of weather does restrict their access to getting out," Mervilde says. "We'd love to have more active indoor recess, but there are not too many days where that affects us. The average high this time of year is around 30 degrees."

•In Vermont, at Orchard Elementary School in South Burlington, Principal Mark Trifilio reports kids are gung-ho to get outside — even if it's snowing and 10 degrees. "The kids are pretty hardy," Trifilio says. "They like the outdoors. A lot of students really like to be out there. They don't mind the cold for the most part."

Parents are indeed concerned that children get their time at recess.

Facebook pages have sprung up in Long Island, N.Y., and Maryland with such titles as "Promoting Outdoor Recess for Long Island Children" and "Montgomery County Public School Parents Support Outdoor Recess in the Cold" as parents want to ensure their children are getting the outdoor time the kids need during this unusually chilly winter.

"Many Montgomery County, Md., public schools keep elementary schoolchildren indoors when the temperature hits 32 degrees or snow is on the ground," notes the Maryland Facebook page, which asks parents to sign a petition urging the county to "set a specific wellness policy requiring schools to give all county children 30 minutes of ACTIVE recess each day."

"Our children need to run around and be active."

Montgomery County Public Schools spokesman Dana Tofig says "we generally leave it up to the principals. There's no set temperature. Ultimately, we err on the side of student safety."

"You always want to get the kids outside," he says, also admitting that it's been a cold winter, with lots of indoor recess.

Indeed, recess is a crucial part of any child's elementary school day, says Michael J. Petrilli, executive vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, D.C. "It's incredibly important to get kids outside. Little kids need to run around."

He says that parents should push back if schools are being more conservative than they need to be with their winter recess policies.

Of course, kids in Atlanta, last week didn't even have to worry about recess, as the entire school system was shut down for a week due to 4.4 inches of snow.

Contributing: John Wisely, Detroit Free Press; Greg Latshaw, The Daily Times (Salisbury, Md.); Tim Evans and Gretchen Becker, The Indianapolis Star; Kirsti Marohn, St. Cloud (Minn.) Times; Molly Walsh, Burlington Free Press; Jon Ostendorff, Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times; Laura Bruno, The Daily Record, Morris County, N.J.