Ashe Mountain Times

Above normal temperatures for the month of January in the High Country may not be pleasing to ski enthusiasts but county officials say they are surviving without it.

Randall Miles, county maintenance engineer for Ashe's Department of Transportation office, said this winter is a welcomed respite from the previous two.

“It's so much milder to me,” said Miles. “We've not used as many man hours as we did in the past and not as much salt.”

The Smethport office has a 2,500-ton bin of salt for the county's roads in the event of snow, ice, or a mixture of both.

“Last winter, we were continuously ordering more because you never know when you can get a storm they didn't call for,” said Miles. “This year, we've only had to order more salt a couple of times.”

The DOT office has a number of plow trucks and employees at its disposal to the keep the highways and secondary roads cleared and treated to the best of their ability. Officials also use trucks from the department's bridge division and contracted workers if needed, said Miles.

A lack of significant snowfall and more optimal travel conditions is also good news to Ashe County Schools.

According to Superintendent Travis Reeves, students have missed two days of school due to wintry weather as of Saturday, Jan. 21, compared to 21 days last year.

The number of two-hour delays is also down from three to two for the same time period.

Ashe has already made up one snow day.

“Knock on wood, we've been very pleased,” said Reeves.

While the school system reserves the right to use one-hour delays, Reeves said officials usually opt against it as road conditions do not significantly improve in such a short span of time.  

State law requires public systems to log in 180 curriculum days per school year, although in 2010, Ashe schools received a waiver to have three of those days excused due to the excessive number of days missed.

Knowing what winter usually brings the county, school officials typically include a few extra optional teacher workdays in the first few months of a new year in anticipation to missed classroom time.

Having less closings and delays also means greater continuity in the classroom, said Reeves.

“We feel better with that,” said Reeves. “If we can come to school and keep students and teachers on a regular schedule, it helps everything else.”

The forecast for cold weather lovers isn't good.

According to the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va., high temperatures for West Jefferson will remain in the upper 40s to low 50s until Sunday when a high of only 30 degrees is expected. Temperatures will rebound Monday with a high of 42.