Dangerous road conditions possible tonight as temperatures drop

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A Colorado Springs city official said low temperatures Tuesday night could complicate road cleanup as city plows deal with the latest snow storm.

"When we start to get into those temperatures, that's when you can get what we call a flash freeze," said Public Works division manager Corey Farkas. "If we have wet roads all over town, and we hit 12 degrees overnight, the entire city will freeze simultaneously, and even with 50 trucks on the roadway, we can't be on all the roads at one time."

Farkas said the city called in all 50 plows for Tuesday's Winter storm. As of 10:30 a.m., Farkas said road efforts have gone well.

"That's when you have what we call oatmeal snow out there," Farkas said. "It's when that snow pack that's been on the roadway has material on top of it, and that material starts to work. You start to get some traffic on it, and those tires start to churn it up, and that snow starts to look like oatmeal. That's a good thing."

The real trouble for most drivers before tonight's freeze will be getting out of the neighborhood. Farkas said the city does not plow residential areas unless snow totals eclipse six inches. It has not reached that mark as of 11:30 a.m.