Introduction

Winter weather causes significant road impacts. According to the Federal Highway Administration, about 22% of all accidents in the U.S. from 2005-2014 were weather-related. This translates to yearly averages of about 5,900 fatalities, over 445,000 injuries, and nearly 1 million property-damage-only accidents. State, local, and municipal Departments of Transportation (DOTs) implement various strategies to mitigate impacts on the roads. More accurate and timely weather and road weather forecasts, in addition to observations, can better inform DOTs and improve their decision-making capabilities.

In the next section, we will go through an exercise to learn how forecasters can better communicate winter weather threats to the DOT.