Agencies need consistent, accurate weather information to guide their deployment of winter maintenance crews. Understanding weather trends is also a critical part of long-term planning and budgeting. Toward that end, Clear Roads has undertaken several research projects that aim to make winter severity indexes a more valuable tool for states. Other Clear Roads research has focused on weather forecasting and reconstructing storm events.
Web-Based Tools
- Clear Roads Weather Event Reconstruction and Analysis Tool
- Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (collaboration between MRCC and Clear Roads)
Weather Severity Maps
Product Experiences
Every year, Clear Roads member states share the results of pilot-testing of winter maintenance products and materials that their agencies have conducted.
- View product experiences for weather-related tools for 2006-2021.
Products reviewed include:
- AccuWeather SkyGuard Online
- High Sierra temperature sensor
- Lufft USA multi-parameter weather sensors
- Maintenance decision support systems
- PreCise temperature sensor
- Vaisala RWIS station
- Vaisala temperature sensor
- WeatherCloud temperature sensor
- WeatherSentry Online
Other Research and Resources
- Weather-Responsive Management Strategies (Texas DOT, expected completion 2022)
- Quantifying Correlations Between Winter Severity, Road Conditions, and VTrans’ Snow and Ice Control Activities (Vermont Agency of Transportation, 2022)
- Optimal RWIS Sensor Density and Location – Phase 3 (Aurora, 2021)
- Weather Severity Indices – Key Issues and Potential Paths Forward (Aurora, 2021)
- Improving Winter Road Weather Alerts on Highway Dynamic Message Signs (Minnesota DOT, 2021)
- Severe Weather Index (Maryland DOT, 2020)
- Weather-Savvy Roads: Sensors and Data for Enhancing Road Weather Management: Final Report (Texas DOT, 2019)
- Relationships Between Weather and Roadway Safety (Iowa DOT, 2019)
- Road Weather Information Systems for Winter Road Maintenance (UTRC Region 2, 2018)
- Development of the Nebraska Department of Transportation Winter Severity Index (Nebraska DOT, 2018)
- Optimization of Winter Road Maintenance Under Traffic and Weather Information (TRB Annual Meeting paper, 2015)
- Safety and Mobility Impacts of Winter Weather—Phase 3 (Iowa DOT, 2014)
- Best Practices for Road Weather Management (FHWA, 2012)