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

Guidelines for Disseminating Road Weather Advisory & Control Information
This guidebook (PDF 7MB) provides design recommendations on communicating road weather information to travelers using various dissemination methods such as Variable Message Signs, 511, web sites and social media. It replaces an earlier guidebook which has been updated based on the review and evaluation by transportation agencies.

Guidelines for the Use of Variable Speed Limit (VSL) Systems in Wet Weather
This document (PDF 2.7MB) contains guidance on implementing VSL systems in wet weather, particularly when operating speed exceeds design speed and stopping distance exceeds sight distance. It also describes existing VSL installations in the US.

The Vehicle Data Translation (VDT) Version 3.0
The original tool was developed to extract and derive weather and road condition information from vehicle probe data, filter and quality checked the data, and generate statistical output for specific road segments. (PDF 38.5MB)

MDSS Prototype Release 6.0 - Release 6.0 of MDSS prototype software, which contains many new or improved features. Registration for the software and supporting documentation is free.

Publications Now Available

Additional Listing of Road Weather Management Program Publications

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.

Web-Based Course/Training

  • Road Weather Management Web-Based Courses - FHWA and the Consortium for ITS Training and Education are offering interactive web-based courses on the "Principles and Tools of Road Weather Management" and "RWIS Equipment and Operations", and will be offering a new course on Weather Responsive Traffic Management. Refer to the announcement for details.
  • NWS Web-Based Training - FHWA and the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training have developed a web-based training course for road weather management staff to learn about National Weather Service products, forecasts and warnings.

Upcoming Events

There are currently no events listed. Please check back soon.

View Additional Upcoming Calendar Events

PDF files can be viewed with the Acrobat® Reader®.
Office of Operations