Hard, cold facts about snow emergency levels

By Sheri Trusty, Seneca County Sheriff’s Office Public Relations Coordinator

It’s been quite a winter for Seneca County, and it’s not close to being over. Inclement weather – including snow, ice, wind, and excessive cold – have made driving dangerous. Thankfully, Seneca County Sheriff Fredrick Stevens is one of the Ohio sheriffs who implements snow emergency levels to help county residents gauge road conditions.

Not all counties in the state utilize a snow emergency level system, so Seneca County residents have an invaluable tool to help them make wise winter driving decisions.

Emergency levels are graded 1, 2, and 3, with 3 being the most severe.

· Level 1 – Alert: Roadways are hazardous. Motorists should drive with extreme caution.
· Level 2 – Advisory: Roadways are extremely hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Only those who feel it is necessary to travel should be on the roadways.
· Level 3 – Emergency: Roadways are closed to all non emergency travel. No one should be on the roadway unless it is absolutely essential to travel. Those operating vehicles on the roadway for non emergency reasons may be subject to arrest.

Sheriff Stevens consults with many people before declaring or changing a snow emergency level, including police chiefs, county commissioners, city mayors, Seneca County EMA Director John Spahr, Seneca County Engineer Mark Zimmerman, deputies currently working across the county and going out himself to gauge the roadways.

“I go to a lot of lengths to get input, especially from County Garage Supervisor, Greg Breidenbach,” Sheriff Stevens said. “I weigh all that and make a decision.”

Seneca County spans over 550 square miles, and weather can vary across the region. One section of the county can have little snow while roads on another area are experiencing a whiteout, where poor visibility and drifting snow make driving hazardous.

Sheriff Stevens must consider weather conditions across the region and make one overall countywide decision.

Sheriff Stevens must also consider the distance schoolchildren must travel to get to school. Many school districts in the county have consolidated, and a district’s territory can span many square miles. If traveling is unsafe in one school district, the Sheriff must call a snow emergency for the entire county.

“Some school districts are spread out. When the Sheriff is determining levels, he doesn’t have the luxury to pick and choose. He has to do a worst-case scenario,” Zimmerman said. “It has to be a countywide level.”

Snow emergency levels are posted on the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page and on the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office App.

The Seneca County Sheriff’s Office App can be downloaded for free with the QR Code on this post, by visiting https://apps.myocv.com/share/a57144883, or on the App Store or Google Play by searching for “Seneca County Sheriff Ohio.” Before downloading the app, please be sure it is the Ohio app.

Sheriff Stevens makes snow emergency level decisions carefully because he wants all of the county’s 55,000+ residents to be safe.

“When the Sheriff calls a level 2 or 3, his concern is nothing but public safety,” Zimmerman said. “We work with the Sheriff to make the safest system we can afford. I think he does a fabulous job. He is a Sheriff who isn’t afraid to increase a level or decrease a level to keep people safe.”