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Case Study #2 for Operational Forecasting Services
At 10 p.m. a contract snow removal client listened to the radio weather forecasts, watched the TV weatherman and checked the free forecasts on the Internet. All sources said there was a chance of a passing flurry overnight but nothing more. Feeling confident he would not need to get up overnight to service his clients, he went to bed. At about 1:30 a.m. Weather Command’s professional meteorologists, while continuously monitoring weather conditions, noticed an increase in the radar returns of some snow showers that were heading toward the area from the Northwest. The meteorologists decided to monitor the radar returns and surface weather reports for the next 30 minutes before issuing any warnings. At 2 a.m. the surface reports, in conjunction with the radar, indicated some minor accumulation would occur when this system moved across the area. The contractor was called and awakened at 2:15 a.m. and was given a snow warning for “up to ½ inch of snow” between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. The contractor activated his crews for a salting operation and had all his clients’ parking lots salted by 6 a.m. He reported that some of his competitors “were nowhere to be seen”. He received no complaints from his clients, while a competitor of his received many.
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