Road Weather Management Program
photos of lightning, trucks plowing snow, an empty road before a storm, and an evacuation
Office of Operations 21st century operations using 21st century technologies

Welcome to Road Weather Management

What's New

Road Weather Management Web-based Course - FHWA and the Consortium for ITS Training and Education (CITE) have developed an interactive web-based course on the "Principles and Tools of Road Weather Management." It is the same content as the NHI classroom version of the course, only it is converted to an on-line format. For more information, visit the CITE Web site at www.citeconsortium.org.

NWS Web-based Training - FHWA and the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET) have developed a web-based training course for road weather management staff to learn about National Weather Service (NWS) products, forecasts and warnings. It is available from the COMET Web site at http://www.meted.ucar.edu/dot/.

MDSS Prototype Release 5.0 - Release 5.0 of MDSS prototype software, which contains many new or improved features. Registration for the software and supporting documentation is free

Adverse weather conditions have a major impact on the safety and operation of our Nation's roads, from signalized arterials to Interstate highways. Weather affects driver behavior, vehicle performance, pavement friction, and roadway infrastructure. Weather events and their impacts on roads can be viewed as predictable, non-recurring incidents that affect safety, mobility and productivity. Weather affects roadway safety through increased crash risk, as well as exposure to weather-related hazards. Weather impacts roadway mobility by increasing travel time delay, reducing traffic volumes and speeds, increasing speed variance (i.e., a measure of speed uniformity), and decreasing roadway capacity (i.e., maximum rate at which vehicles can travel). Weather events influence productivity by disrupting access to road networks, and increasing road operating and maintenance costs.

For additional information about the Road Weather Management Program, please visit the National Transportation Operations Coalition Web Cast Archive and select the September 30, 2008 - Road Weather Management web cast. Here you will find a recording and presentations about the program.

Clarus Initiative

The Clarus Initiative is a joint effort of the United States Department of Transportation Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office and the FHWA Road Weather Management Program. The Clarus Initiative is a six-year effort to develop and demonstrate an integrated surface transportation weather observation data management system, and to establish a partnership to create a Nationwide Surface Transportation Weather Observing and Forecasting System.

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