(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-O-T is working to clear off state roadways following the snowstorm that moved across the state Thursday. Winter Operations director Craig Bargfrede says the timing of the storm created issues for crews. “The storm coming in late afternoon into the evening hours last night. It was a heavier, wetter snow, really slushy, and then there’s the normal issues with traffic,” he says. Bargfrede says temperatures dropped down into the teens, which added another variable to the work.

“Along with the type of snow, wet, heavy, slushy snow that we got, it froze up and so our treatment strategies, obviously salt is not as effective when we get down into those temperatures. So we’re doing a lot of scraping and a lot of plowing and treating as we can,” he says. “The best thing is the sun is out, so hopefully we can get some power from the sun to help us in doing some of the melting.” Bargfrede says the snow was heavy along the main storm path.

“If you draw a diagonal, basically from the Council Bluffs area going through Ames up to the Waterloo area, up to Decorah, that whole corridor, that line is still 100 percent snow and ice covered,” Bargfrede says. “And so that’s the area as well that got the heaviest amounts of snow. We’ve been getting reports of anywhere from six to eight plus inches and and even higher that in certain segments or certain areas.”

The National Weather Service has reports of ten to 15 inches of snow in north-central Iowa. Bargfrede says there are some towing bans in central Iowa, while the northwestern and southeastern corners of the state have normal winter conditions. He says clear skies should help them clear off the ice and snow. “As the sun gets out, hopefully we can use between the sun and the treatment that we put out there, we’ll be able to break through and get us back down to a bare pavement fairly quickly,” he says.

Bargfrede says another frustration is drivers not adjusting to the conditions. Bargfrede says another frustration is drivers not adjusting to the conditions. He says around the Council Bluffs area yesterday evening there where multiple cars and semis were involved accidents, he says were brought on by people traveling too fast for the conditions. Bargfrede says some plow trucks got hit as they worked across the state.

“Travelers just basically drive right into the back of our trucks, not slowing down and not really paying attention. So they’re driving distracted, they’re not realizing that they’re closing on our Iowa D-O-T plow truck as quickly as they are. And the video tells it all. I mean, you can just see the vehicle just drive right into the back of us,” Bargfrede says.

Bargfrede says drivers need to get back into safe winter driving mode and slow down whenever conditions change.