‘It’s Oatmealing!’ A snowplow driver’s goldmine while attacking winter storms
Bradley Davis
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo (KRDO) – Thursday night was an all-call for the Colorado Springs snowplow drivers. Record levels of snow, and a full crew of drivers patrolling the city from 12 a.m. to 12 p.m.
“When Mother Nature comes in, Mother Nature just wins,” said Public Works Operation Manager Corey Farkas.
At 6 a.m., with six hours left before his shift change, plow driver Marcus Brooks made room in his snowplow cab for KRDO13’s Bradley Davis.
“They’ve been pretty messy this morning,” Brooks said.
“How many cars have you seen spin out this morning?” Davis asked.
“A lot. A lot. At least seven.”
It snowed over nine inches from Thursday into Friday across most of the city. Until about 5 a.m., both Farkas and Brooks said progress was not easy going, like bailing water out of the ocean.
“At a rate of 1-2 inches of snowfall per hour, we have so much infrastructure we just can’t keep up,” Farkas said.
The snow started to slow from then on, and the plows started to catch up.
“You just see the snow just blow everywhere, so that’s always pretty cool. You just know you’re hitting it,” Farkas said while rolling a big pile out of the road.
“Whenever you put the blades down, you should always be putting product down,” Brooks said.
The city said it’s been expanding its chloride de-icer tanks year-after-year.
“Those bigger storage tanks give us the capacity to expand our work,” Mobolade said.
Between the lighter snow, lots of snowplows and a healthy portion of chemical de-icer, Brooks finally started to find what he had been digging for.
“Oatmeal!” Brooks said. “When all the snow starts to break up and gets all wet, we call it Oatmealing.”
“Do we like oatmeal?” Davis asked.
“We love oatmeal!” Brooks replied.
Brooks said it’s a point of pride for himself and his coworkers.
“Keeping the community safe, that’s always cool. I have brothers who has to drive. A mother who has to drive. Family. And just throwing snow, I love it!”
Friday, community appreciation came from an unexpected source.
“I just want to tell you thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for getting up so early while everyone is sleeping to help the streets. I appreciate y’all, and I love y’all,” Mobolade said over Brooks’ and the other drivers’ radios.
The cool tempuratures Friday will keep the next plow shift on the roads for a while, but with the snow moving Southeast, the roads should drastically improve each hour.