Local residents will be roasting under the midsummer sun when county staff bring forward plans to improve snow response in the 2026-27 winter season.
County Manager Mark Schwartz told County Board members on Feb. 24 that he would be back in July with new plans. And he wasn’t kidding about the timing.
“I picked July only because I thought people would be in a little better mood about snow,” the county manager said.
At the meeting, county officials gave their analysis of the local response to the Jan. 24-25 “snowcrete” storm, where snow was followed by ice, then locked in place by a week of frigid temperatures. The grades were mixed.
“I think we got rusty a little bit because we haven’t had big snows for a while,” Board member Susan Cunningham said.
That more benign weather pattern came to a screeching halt in January. “We’ve certainly had a couple of doozies” this winter season, Cunningham said.
Schwartz acknowledged that the lack of whopper winter weather in recent years may have caused a degree of confusion in the response.
“Our muscle memory atrophied a little bit,” he told Board members, but said he believed “we did a lot of things very well.”
County leadership also praised residents’ response to unique weather conditions from late January into early February, and their patience during recovery efforts.
The community “responded very reasonably, all things considered,” Board member Takis Karantonis said.
Schwartz suggested his summertime after-action report will include proposals for community members to be more active in helping following major winter events, since the county government doesn’t have the resources to deal with them all.
“We’re not going to be everywhere all at once,” he said.
Responding to a query by Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., the county manager said the post-mortem report would include collaboration with Arlington Public Schools leadership.
Cunningham said she hoped the final report would be something the community could understand and embrace.
“I would like us to get a published snow plan or a detailed ‘here’s what to expect, here’s how it goes,'” she said.
Schwartz’s report could also include revisions to the county’s 15-year-old ordinance on clearing sidewalks after storms. In the weeks following the Jan. 24-25 storm, a total of 15 citations were issued for failing to meet the ordinance’s requirements.
Photo via Arlington County/X
