By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The weather forecast this week is filled with percentages of snow and amounts of snow accumulation that Barton County and the rest of the state will receive. A winter storm warning remains in effect until 12 p.m. Tuesday.
Barton County Road & Bridge Shop Foreman Chris Schartz said the county does not put brine on the roads before winter storms hit, but the department reacts to the severity of the ice and snow.
"Depending on how bad the storm is, we will scrape it off," said Schartz. "On our second pass through, we usually put salt and sand down from a stop ahead to the stop sign."
Barton County has priority routes that get cleared, mostly the streets or highways leading in and out of towns.
"Emergency vehicles need to be able to get into town," said Schartz. "They need the easiest route to get into town. For example, Olmitz, you have the state highway. The priority would be the road that goes south into Olmitz. We make sure every town has a way to get an emergency vehicle into it."
Past Tuesday’s snow accumulation, the Great Bend area has chances to receive snow again Thursday and Friday. Temperatures drop below 20 degrees starting Friday, including a high of 13 degrees on Saturday.