# Snowed in? What if you're a plow operator? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowed-in-what-if-youre-a-plow-operator/440606 "2008-03-08T17:29:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowed-in-what-if-youre-a-plow-operator/440606/21 "2008-03-09T06:48:53Z")
> [@](#): > > but the snow in the park was deep enough to fall into my boots with every step. Thats nothing a little tape around the top of the boot(pants over the boot too) won’t fix 😉 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowed-in-what-if-youre-a-plow-operator/440606/22 "2008-03-09T13:44:22Z")
We get lots of snow where I live. Over 200 inches so far this year. Pretty much everyone has a 4x4 and we don’t have any problems getting around. I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that every one of our County plow drivers (I work for the county) has a 4x4 of some sort. Not that that a panacea, but it makes a big difference. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowed-in-what-if-youre-a-plow-operator/440606/23 "2008-03-09T16:07:30Z")
[QUOTE=Brown Eyed Girl] Here’s something interesting I saw on the news that hadn’t actually occurred to me. They actually truck the snow out of downtown and dump it somewhere in the burbs. That makes sense because where would the pile the snowdrifts without blocking either streets or sidewalks. I hadn’t really even though of it. [/QUOTE] A few decades ago Buffalo, NY had a big snowfall – so big they ran out of places to put it. So they dumped the stuff into coal hoppers that were returning to Virginia for another load of power plant coal, figuring the snow would melt by the time it got there. Unfortunately, it was cold in Virginia, too and the cars were arriving with about five tons of snow each, snow compacted to the point where it wouldn’t flow out of the hopper doors. The railroad had to send them down to Florida and back up to get them emptied. It was not happy about that. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowed-in-what-if-youre-a-plow-operator/440606/24 "2008-03-09T17:02:57Z")
[QUOTE=Brown Eyed Girl] That’s icky. But then I hear the river is already disgusting with probably worse pollution than defiled snow. [/QUOTE] Where do you think it goes when it melts? ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowed-in-what-if-youre-a-plow-operator/440606/25 "2008-03-09T20:11:17Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] Where do you think it goes when it melts? [/QUOTE] The sewer? Just cut it out with your logic, there, Mister. :smack: :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowed-in-what-if-youre-a-plow-operator/440606/26 "2008-03-09T22:52:58Z")
[QUOTE=Billdo] In New York, they’ll pick up the snow and dump it in the river. [/QUOTE] Back in the day, they’d shovel it down the storm sewers. The [alligator-in-the-sewer legend](http://www.sewergator.com/news/nyt19350210.htm) got started in 1935 when a snow removal crew actually pulled one up. It got vicious, so they beat it to death with their shovels. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowed-in-what-if-youre-a-plow-operator/440606/27 "2008-03-10T00:51:14Z")
[QUOTE=Brown Eyed Girl] Here’s something interesting I saw on the news that hadn’t actually occurred to me. They actually truck the snow out of downtown and dump it somewhere in the burbs. That makes sense because where would the pile the snowdrifts without blocking either streets or sidewalks. I hadn’t really even though of it. [/QUOTE] The city of Winnipeg, Manitoba (where I grew up), population ~650k, has about a half-dozen [snow dumps](http://winnipeg.ca/cao/media/news/nr_2006/nr_20061031.stm) at various locations around the outskirts of the city. They just pile up the snow there over the course of the winter. The one I always drove by usually got to be 50-60 feet high at its tallest, about the length of a football field, and didn’t usually melt all the way until mid- to late May. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowed-in-what-if-youre-a-plow-operator/440606.md?page=1)