So far, more than 20 inches of snow has fallen in the Dayton area in February alone. The average local snowfall for the entire month is 7 inches, according to the National Climate Data Center.
In Dayton, snow removal and deicing has gobbled $209,420 of the public works department’s overtime budget, according to Fred Stovall, the city’s director of public works. This leaves just $56,580 for the remainder of the year and there is up to a 40 percent chance of snow this weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
Oakwood’s year-to-date overtime hours nearly double the amount for 2009, according to Kevin Weaver, the city’s director of engineering and public works. In 2009, Oakwood paid 500 hours of overtime for snow removal. So far, in 2010, that number is 925 hours.
In Huber Heights, city workers involved in snow removal accumulated 841 hours of overtime pay so far this year, amounting to $37,205. That compares with 631 hours of overtime totaling $27,898 during the first weeks of 2009, said Luke Swift, Huber Heights public works manager.
“The frequency and amount of snowfall this winter has been unpredictable,” Stovall said. “We weren’t expecting a double snowfall in February.”
If snow falls late on a Friday over a weekend, it can pack an added punch since workers get paid extra for working on Saturdays and Sundays.
For example, the storm overnight Friday, Feb. 6 into Saturday, Feb. 7 cost Dayton about $54,000 in overtime. The snowfall on Tuesday, Feb. 9 cost about $38,000.
The region, historically, isn’t clear of snowfall until April, WHIO-TV Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek said. And heavy snowfalls can happen in March. An early March 2008 storm dumped as much as 15 inches on parts of the Dayton area.
“If we have another snowfall on the weekend, it’s definitely a done deal,” Stovall said. “We hope it stops snowing.”
Staff writers Kelli Wynn and Margo Rutledge Kissell contributed to this report
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