BOISE- Snow is expected the Treasure Valley overnight. If we get rain prior to it, it could complicate clean-up efforts for road maintenance crews.
To treat roads for snow, they typically use de-icing liquid.
But rain may force crews to hold off on applying it.
Here's why: rain can wash away the liquid or if the roads are too wet, the de-icing liquid can be diluted and therefore ineffective.
Crews will monitor the weather and be ready to hit the roads as soon as they're dry enough.
And that just might mean waiting for the snow to fall first, then putting de-icing liquid on top of it.
"If a storm system comes in- and it's a dry storm system- so it starts out as snow, that makes their job a little bit easier because they can simply go out and spray the highways and major intersections. And then when the snow comes down it can not bond with the roadway," June Sparks of the Idaho Transportation Department said.
The state also uses salt and sand in heavier snowfalls. Crews apply the mixture to heavier traveled roads and highway off-ramps and on-ramps.
