BWI Marshall Aiport Prepares For Winter Weather

BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― Little did we know last year at this time that we were exactly one month away from our first blizzard.

Alex DeMetrick reports this coming winter is very much on the minds of those who plow the runways at BWI Marshall.

'Tis the season at BWI Marshall to break out the hardware—in case another hard winter is coming.

"You have to remove all the snow," said Frank Johnson, BWI Marshall maintenance worker."It's not just like a street where you push it off to the side. All the snow has to be removed."

Last winter, three big storms left a record six feet. That meant round-the-clock plowing when possible.

"Sometimes it's just like whiteout conditions," said Andrew Antlitz, BWI Marshall maintenance worker. "You just kind of follow blind the next guy and try to stay as safe as you can."

Staging equipment on a nice day still takes training to master the landmarks and direction signals. This is not always easy when working around active runways and aircraft:

"Aircraft always have the right of way," Johnson said.

At BWI, maintenance crews practice on a simulator.

"We've digitized every sign, every light, every paint mark on the airfield into the simulator," said Wayne Pennell, Director of Operations and Maintenance.

And then they covered them up to practice in snow.

"It gives the airfield familiarization without actually being on the airfield," Pennell said.

And it's ready for winter.

BWI-Marshall has 75 pieces of equipment on hand to deal with snow conditions.