Photo by Brett Dunlap Clay Myers shovels snow on Tuesday to clear a path to the Quilt Shop on Washington Boulevard in Belpre as the region continues to dig out from heavy snows that hit the area Sunday and Monday.

PARKERSBURG — The Mid-Ohio Valley continues to dig out from snows that hit the area earlier this week.

On Tuesday, people dealt with around a foot of snow that hit the area Sunday and Monday as a number of area schools remained closed and street crews worked around the clock to open up roadways.

Some schools remained closed today, including Belpre, Fort Frye, Frontier, Marietta and Wolf Creek, among others.

The majority of snowfall ended Monday evening with an occasional flurry seen throughout the day Tuesday.

“Throughout the rest of the week it will continue to be cold, well below normal temperatures,” said Gabe Wawrin, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston. “At night it will be quite chilly, especially later in the work week, Thursday and into Friday.

“It will be down into the single digits is what we are thinking right now.”

There is a possibility of snow flurries later in the week that could turn into snow showers.

“We can’t rule out a dusting at times,” Wawrin said.

Officials are tracking another system that could bring more snow by the end of the week, late Friday and into Saturday.

“We are not looking at an event of the magnitude of what we just had, but there is the potential for some accumulating snow again,” Wawrin said.

Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce said Tuesday the city had seven trucks out and have been working since 5 p.m. Sunday.

As of Tuesday, road crews have transitioned from primary/main roadways, hills and the busiest intersections to secondary roads and side streets.

“We have had some minor and temporary equipment failures that we have repaired quickly and turned around quickly,” Joyce said. “We will continue with our constant deployment for the next 24 hours at least (the mayor said at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday).

“With colder weather in the forecast we will try to get as much of the side streets cleared as possible before the predicted storm for Friday,” he said.

Joyce credited Parkersburg Public Works Director Everett Shears with having equipment ready to go Friday before the initial snowfall began on Sunday so crews were able to get out and immediately start working on the roads without incident or delay. Shears had garage staff out to quickly respond to any repair needs which as of now have primarily been salt spreader and plow related.

“I’m pleased with our street department preparations and response,” Joyce said. “Everett and his guys have executed the plan well and I appreciate the patience we have seen from the public.”

Washington County Engineer Roger White said they have been able to clear more roadways since the snow stopped Monday evening.

“Obviously, it stopped snowing which is a vast improvement over (Monday),” he said. “We are making progress.”

Temperatures have been in the mid-20s which has allowed the materials put on local roadways, a mixture of grit and salt, to work and melt some of the snow and ice.

“The salt doesn’t work at extreme cold temperatures, but at these temperatures it will work,” Wright said.

Crews have been out working on getting roads open.

“We have been making progress,” Wright said. “I think at the close of (Tuesday), significant progress will be seen and we will be back at it (today).”

They are continuing to treat slick spots and getting roadways cleared.

Washington County has 16 snow routes, around 25 miles per route. Each driver knows they have a priority route or two.

“We are trying to hit every road within that,” he said. “There are a few roads they go back over because they are more traveled.

“We are making progress as they go out throughout the day.”

Washington County has four foremen who go out throughout the county and conduct reviews of what has been done and see where improvements need to be made and where issues are that need to be addressed, Wright said of work being done on Tuesday.

It is not common for the area to go to a Level 3 snow emergency in Washington County like they did on Monday, but it gave their crews the space to be able to work and get a lot done, Wright said. Level 3 limited traffic to only essential vehicles.

“We appreciate the public being patient,” he said. “It was good we went to a Level 3 and it was appreciated that we were able to go out and work and there wasn’t traffic out in the lanes.”

Wright expects normal traffic to be able to resume today.

“As people see snow plows out there, everyone needs to give the snow plows room to work,” he said. “Snow plows are large vehicles and people need to give them room to work.”

Belpre Mayor Susan Abdella said on Tuesday afternoon that the main arteries through town were in good condition.

“The crews are out working on the side streets,” she said. “The side streets are looking much better.

“Their intent is to have all of the side streets done by (Tuesday evening).”

Abdella credited the street crews with being hard at work since Sunday afternoon.

“The street crews have been amazing,” she said. “They have been out since 4 p.m. Sunday and they have worked around the clock to keep everything going.”

Abdella said Belpre has a younger street crew with a number of people who have not plowed or dealt with snow like this. The people who were doing it back in the 1990s are gone.

“This has been a big learning curve for this group,” the mayor said. “I think they have handled it in a stellar fashion and they are still smiling. They have done a good job.”

The Belpre street crew is made up of five guys with three trucks. The city ordered a new street maintenance truck but it had not arrived yet so a plow was put on someone’s pickup truck to be able to plow streets.

Abdella has heard about the possibility of more snow by the end of the week. Belpre Public Service Director Joe Kirbywent out with street crews and Belpre Police officers to get an understanding of how best to respond to these situations during weather like the area has experienced.

“We have learned a few things and I think we are going to do great,” she said.

Abdella said Rumpke Trash Service will be picking up trash the rest of this week. People who normally have trash picked up on Tuesday will have it picked up today, homes scheduled for Wednesday will be picked up on Thursday, homes scheduled for Thursday will be picked up on Friday and homes scheduled for Friday will be picked up on Saturday. Those who were scheduled for Monday will be picked up at the end of each day until crews are caught up.

Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com