Officials Monitoring Winter Weather System

Update: Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018: 6 a.m.

Temperatures are expected to remain below freezing throughout the day, which may lead to icy conditions in spots. The main thoroughfares around Durham have been cleared, but secondary roads have not yet been plowed. Special care should be taken at exit ramps, overpasses and intersections. A winter weather advisory for black ice has been issued until 7 a.m. Saturday.

Crews on campus have treated or cleared many of the priorities walkways and will begin working on roads at 6 a.m. All members of the Duke community should use only the priority roads and walkways for travel around campus as normal routes may not be cleared yet.

Extreme caution is urged for pedestrians and those traveling to and around campus. Duke community members should allow extra time for travel this morning. Managers should be flexible with staffing where appropriate.

Buses are working on a limited schedule. Check the "Announcements" on Duke TransLoc website for real-time updates on which routes are running.

Gates on all lots have been opened for easy entry and exit. All parking garage gates, except PGI, have been opened for safe access to covered parking.

Update: Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018: 11 p.m.

With limited snow accumulations in the Durham area, Duke will continue to operate on a normal schedule on Thursday.

Staff should be encouraged to allow extra time for traveling to work, and managers should be flexible with staffing where appropriate. Crews have been working on campus and will continue early tomorrow morning to clear roads, parking lots and walkways. Parking garage roofs will be closed tomorrow morning and gates on all parking lots will be raised for easy entry and exit.

Duke community members who see hazardous or dangerous icy spots during severe weather may call Facilities at 919-660-4280. While the temperatures are projected to remain below freezing tomorrow, the sun’s radiation will help break up ice on pavement and contribute to some melting. Salt, sand, and ice-melt are being used to treat walkways and building entrances for priority routes. But isolated slick conditions may remain throughout the day, and extreme caution is urged for pedestrians and those traveling to and around campus. Only priority routes should be used.

Update: Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018: 8 p.m.

A winter storm advisory has been issued for Durham County until 7 a.m. Thursday. The National Weather Service has updated snow accumulation projections with Durham expected to receive 2-3 inches of snow overnight. Crews have pretreated roads, parking garage entrances/exits, and elevated surfaces across campus earlier today. Officials will continue to monitor conditions and provide updates as conditions warrant. 

Original Post: Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018: 11 a.m.

Duke officials are closely monitoring weather forecasts for the Durham area that currently project less than an inch of snow Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

The National Weather Service expects heavier snow accumulations in eastern North Carolina, primarily east of Interstate 95. A winter storm advisory has been issued for Wake County, and a winter storm warning has been issued for eastern counties in the Coastal Plain region. Impact on Durham is expected to be minimal at this time, and Duke is not expecting to activate the severe weather policy.

Crews will be pretreating roads, parking garage entrances/exits, and elevated surfaces as a precaution. Please remind your faculty and staff to review the priority clearing map to determine the preferred paths of travel during severe weather, which may differ from their normal routines. Members of the Duke community should use extreme caution when traveling to and around campus in case there are icy spots.

If Duke activates the Severe Weather and Emergency Conditions policy, officials will send notification via the DukeALERT system, including text message, email, the DukeALERT website and the web alert bar. A message also will be recorded on the severe weather/emergency conditions telephone line at 684-INFO (4636). Faculty and staff who are not already registered should sign up for text message updates from the DukeALERT system.

Given the possibility of severe weather, staff are encouraged to review Duke's severe weather and emergency conditions policy to understand what they should do if the policy is activated.

During times of severe weather, some staff positions require on-site presence to continue operations. All jobs should be assigned a service category by the manager to ensure continuous operations of patient care, student support and research functions. Managers should ensure staff members are aware of the service category for their position and how they will be notified if the severe weather policy is activated. The three categories are:

• Essential Service: during severe weather/emergency conditions, essential service staff report or remain at work. Transportation service and childcare services may be provided for those required to work during severe weather/emergency conditions. 
• Reserve Service: during severe weather/emergency conditions, reserve service staff are assigned a status at the time of severe weather/emergency condition.
• Delayed Service: during severe weather/emergency conditions, delayed service staff do not report to work or remain at work.

More information about the policy, including a map of priorities for clearing roads, lots and sidewalks, checklists and answers to frequently asked questions, is available at the DukeALERT emergency website.