Rain prevented Burlington from salting its roads prior to Thursday's ice storm, meaning the city is relying solely on a heavy dose of a salt-sand mix to make its streets safe.
As Burlington's Public Works Director Nick MacGregor explained, the city ordinarily would coat the street with a salt brine before a winter weather event. But heavy rains preceding the cold would've washed away their work, wasting the salt.
Instead, as temperatures dropped, city staff at Burlington Public Works kept their eyes on the forecast and out their windows.
Operations Manager Chris Clements sent home four workers early Thursday morning. They were to go home and rest, then return at night to continue the work of the day crew.
The daylight staff waited with eight trucks, each loaded with a salt-sand mixture.
"We haven't put any chains on the trucks yet, but if the guys have enough trouble we might have to," Clements said.
The trucks handle ice in the same order snow is handled: in line with the city's snow removal plan. Bridges and overpasses come first, then designated snow emergency routes, then secondary roads and finally residential streets.
With ice storms, the trucks might resort to some tricky maneuvering. Clements said they drive in reverse up some of the particularly steep hills around town. It helps give some extra traction.
As of midday Thursday, Burlington had 700 tons of salt and 300 tons of salt-sand mixture in reserve at Public Works. Another 700 tons of salt is held in storage.
Clements said salt usage varies too much among storms to give a specific number for the city, but on average any given route gets about 16 tons of salt.
National Weather Service at the Quad Cities meteorologist Rich Kinney reported dryer conditions in the coming days. After Thursday's shower and freeze, Friday and Saturday should bring dry conditions, he said.
"(Friday) will be for getting your car door open," Kinney said.
However, Burlington residents hoping for more warm weather are out of luck. The weekend isn't bringing any temperatures above freezing.
Today in particular is going to be a blustery day. Winds in the area will reach the 15 to 25 MPH range, making windy areas feel as low as -10 degrees Friday morning and single digit temperatures in the afternoon.
Sunday night may bring more snow. The weather service isn't predicting heavy snowfall, but there will likely be enough to accumulate on the ground.
Thursday's ice was enough to let Burlington students out of class early, along with students in surrounding communities. The Burlington City Council postponed its planned Thursday afternoon budget session until sometime next week due to the weather. Among several traffic mishaps Thursday, there was at least one serious accident in Burlington, when a woman drove off the road and struck a tree near the westbound on-ramp at U.S. 34 and Roosevelt Avenue.
The unidentified driver was transported by ambulance to Great River Medical Center.