NEWS ALERT: Residents Asked to Keep Streets Clear

Parking vehicles in driveways will help City crews clear snow

 

MOUNT VERNON, Feb. 2, 2022 – The City of Mount Vernon kindly asks that residents not park their vehicles in the street on Thursday and Friday of this week, and park in their driveways if they can. This will allow City Street crews to plow and remove snow more easily during and after what could be this winter’s biggest snowfall to date.

The City will put its snowplows out beginning at midnight tonight, and will keep them on the streets non-stop through 12:00 a.m. Saturday, first to keep ahead of the snow, which is forecast to fall throughout the day Thursday, and then to steadily clear the streets after the snow has stopped falling, according to Tom Hinkle, Public Works Director for the City of Mount Vernon.

In keeping with standard practice during winter weather events, the City’s Street crews will focus on clearing the major arteries first, along with roads over hills and bridges. They will then turn their attention to the residential streets, and finally the alleys. By moving vehicles from the street into their driveways, residents won’t just make the clearing easier for the plows, but vehicles will face less risk of getting boxed in by piles of snow, if the weather forecasts are accurate about expected accumulations.

As of early Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service was calling for a total snowfall of 4-8 inches in Mount Vernon, all of that falling on Thursday. The forecast is complicated by the fact that Knox County will be on the dividing line between cold and warmer air for much of the long-duration event. Precipitation began as rain Wednesday morning, and is expected to change over to some mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain overnight into early Thursday, and then eventually all snow by Thursday afternoon.

Fortunately, forecasters expect little to no ice accumulation in the Mount Vernon area, although several hours of sleet could make the snow heavy and challenging to move. According to National Weather Service climatology records, Mount Vernon receives an average of 32 inches of snow during the winter. So far this winter, about 13.5 inches have fallen.