{"id":13892,"date":"2016-11-04T17:54:23","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/"},"modified":"2016-11-04T17:54:23","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:54:23","slug":"climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Change and Winter Storms: the Cost of D.C.’s Snowzilla"},"content":{"rendered":"

In January 2016 Winter Storm Jonas dumped 17.81<\/sup> inches of snow on Washington D.C., effectively shutting down the city for three days. A foot and a half is not a massive quantity, but it was an amount the city was unprepared for. Even with crews working around the clock a shortage of plowing and deicing equipment made it impossible to keep side streets and residential areas open to vehicle traffic.<\/p>\n

The District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) is accustomed to dealing with moderate amounts of snow. Snowfalls of one to three inches are relatively common during winter months.\u00a0But in recent years \u201coutlier\u201d storms that wreck havoc have become more common and have stretched historically sufficient resources beyond capacity. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the northeastern United States experienced twice as many extreme snowstorms during the second half of the twentieth century compared to the first half.2 <\/sup>\u00a0Five of the ten worst blizzards in D.C.\u2019s 225 year history have occurred since 1980. All ten have occurred since the industrial revolution.3 <\/sup>Washington D.C. is not alone; a recent study by MIT climatologists showed a clear increase in the frequency of major snowfall events in eight large northeast cities over the last century.4<\/sup><\/p>\n

So, what does all this snow have to do with climate change? Isn\u2019t global warming about raising temperatures and melting ice caps? As it turns out, the laws of physics establish a simple connection between a warming climate and extreme weather. A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, and when a storm from moves through that moisture is released as precipitation.4 <\/sup>In sub-zero temperatures, that precipitation is snow.<\/p>\n

An increase in severe winter storms creates significant challenges for Washington\u2019s DDOT. If blizzards were more frequent the snowplows and deicing equipment used to remove the snow would have high utilization rates that would justify the large capital investment required to purchase a large snow-removal fleet. At present the system is characterized by a low volume of snow-removal equipment that is underutilized most of the year but experiences unpredictable demand surges at infrequent intervals.<\/p>\n

This inefficiency comes at a high cost: the $55 million bill for Jonas was more than the combined total of the District\u2019s snow-removal budgets for the past seven years.5<\/sup> The steep cost was mainly attributed to out-of-state contractors hired to help clean up the mess during a time of high demand across the east coast. Without adequate budgetary resources to pay the bill, city officials made over $24 million in illegal credit card payments before J.P. Morgan turned off the city\u2019s credit.5 <\/sup>Adding to the District\u2019s budget woes is an estimated $32.8 million in lost tax revenue for the week. i,6 <\/sup><\/p>\n

How can such a vexing problem be solved? With more heavy snowfall expected this winter, is DDOT\u2019s resource allocation as efficient as it can be? DDOT\u2019s current strategy is to own limited resources and to hire surge contractors as needed. The current resource pool (recently expanded by 20 units) includes 330 pieces of equipment and 750 DDOT-employed personnel.7 <\/sup>\u00a0This number is clearly insufficient for the largest storms: Jonas required the hiring of 3,500 additional pieces of equipment from contractors as far away as Florida.5<\/sup><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s snow removal budget is $6.2 million and provides for DDOT ownership and operation of 330 pieces of heavy equipment. That means each DDOT-owned plow costs approximately $19,375 annually to own, maintain and operate. During Jonas it cost $55 million to rent 3,500 piece of equipment for less than a week. That\u2019s approximately $15,714 per plow, per week. Clearly renting heavy equipment during surging prices is an expensive proposition. Owned equipment is far cheaper to field, but what about the acquisition cost? Exact prices vary significantly based on the age, condition, and size of the desired piece of equipment, but $100,000 each is a reasonable estimate. At this price 3,500 pieces of equipment would cost $350 million to purchase and $67.8 million annually to operate.ii<\/sup>\u00a0No wonder city officials have opted to roll the dice again this winter and hope for the best.<\/p>\n

In reality the equipment could have other uses. Front end loaders and salt trucks could spend non-winter months contributing to other infrastructure projects or leased to construction companies. \u00a0Still, there are no easy answers. Voters always balk at a tax increase, and the only alternative would be to cut city funding for other programs. If winter storm frequency continues to increase the decision point will continue to shift. One thing is clear: if the city council does not commit more resources to building up DDOT\u2019s fleet the city will continue to pay millions of dollars in rental bills while leaving millions in sales tax revenue on the table.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Word Count: 782<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

End Notes:<\/p>\n

i. Calculated based on $570 Million in lost sales revenue from D.C. area businesses and a sales tax of 5.75%.<\/p>\n

ii. 3,500 pieces of heavy equipment purchased at an acquisition cost of $100,000, with an annual operating cost of $19,375.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Weather.com. \u201cWinter Storm Jonas: Where Does it Rank Historically?\u201d Published 28 April 2016. Accessed 2 November 2016. https:\/\/weather.com\/storms\/winter\/news\/winter-storm-jonas-rank-in-history<\/li>\n
  2. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. \u201cClimate Change and Extreme Snow in the U.S.\u201d Published 25 January 2016. Accessed 2 November 2016. https:\/\/www.ncdc.noaa.gov\/news\/climate-change-and-extreme-snow-us<\/li>\n
  3. Ambrose, Kevin and Wes Junker. \u201cWhere Snowzilla fits into D.C.\u2019s top 10 snowstorms.\u201d The Washington Post.<\/em> Published 23 January 2016. Accessed 2 Nov 2016. https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/capital-weather-gang\/wp\/2016\/01\/23\/where-snowzilla-fits-into-d-c-s-top-10-snowstorms\/<\/li>\n
  4. Cohen, Judah and Jason Furtado. \u201cHow climate change may be producing more blockbuster snowstorms\u201d. The Washington Post<\/em>. Published 9 March 2015. Accessed 2 November 2016. https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/capital-weather-gang\/wp\/2015\/03\/09\/how-climate-change-may-be-producing-more-blockbuster-snowstorms\/<\/li>\n
  5. Davis, Aaron. \u201cD.C. spent record amounts on snow removal, prompting emergency actions to pay creditors.\u201d The Washington Post.<\/em> Published 3 May 2016. Accessed 3 November 2016. https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/dc-politics\/dc-spent-record-amount-on-snow-removal-prompting-emergency-actions-to-pay-creditors\/2016\/05\/03\/48b04986-10b2-11e6-81b4-581a5c4c42df_story.html<\/li>\n
  6. \u00a0\u00a0Morphy, Erika. \u201cWinter Storm Jonas Cost DC Area $570M\u201d GlobeSt.com<\/em>. Published 27 January 2016. Accessed 3 Nov 2016. \u00a0http:\/\/www.globest.com\/sites\/globest\/2016\/01\/27\/winter-storm-jonas-costs-dc-area-570m\/?slreturn=20161004122312<\/li>\n
  7. \u201cDistrict of Columbia Winter Snow and Ice Plan.\u201d District Department of Transportation. Accessed 3 Nov 2016. \u00a0http:\/\/ddot.dc.gov\/page\/district-columbia-winter-snow-and-ice-plan<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Winter storms are disrupting east coast cities with increasing frequency. It climate change to blame? What is the most cost effective solution available to local government planners?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2151,"featured_media":13893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[1970,1971,1250,1972,1969,1251],"class_list":["post-13892","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heavy-equipment","category-local-government","category-snow","category-snowzilla","category-washington-dc","category-winter"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/climate-change-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\nClimate Change and Winter Storms: the Cost of D.C.'s Snowzilla - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Climate Change and Winter Storms: the Cost of D.C.'s Snowzilla - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Winter storms are disrupting east coast cities with increasing frequency. It climate change to blame? What is the most cost effective solution available to local government planners?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Snow-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"615\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"410\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\\\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Change and Winter Storms: the Cost of D.C.'s Snowzilla - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Snow-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-04T21:54:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Snow-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Snow-1.jpg\",\"width\":615,\"height\":410},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Climate Change and Winter Storms: the Cost of D.C.’s Snowzilla\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Climate Change and Winter Storms: the Cost of D.C.'s Snowzilla - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Climate Change and Winter Storms: the Cost of D.C.'s Snowzilla - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":"Winter storms are disrupting east coast cities with increasing frequency. It climate change to blame? What is the most cost effective solution available to local government planners?","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","og_image":[{"width":615,"height":410,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Snow-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/","name":"Climate Change and Winter Storms: the Cost of D.C.'s Snowzilla - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Snow-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-11-04T21:54:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Snow-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Snow-1.jpg","width":615,"height":410},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/climate-change-and-winter-storms-the-cost-of-d-c-s-snowzilla\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Climate Change and Winter Storms: the Cost of D.C.’s Snowzilla"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/13892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/13892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}