Evaluation of Winter Weather Conditions Complexity from the Viewpoint of Winter Maintenance of Roads – Principles and Experience

Since 2005 the so called „winter index“ is being calculated and issued in the Department of Climatology of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute in Prague. This winter index describes weather conditions from the viewpoint of winter maintenance of roads.

In this presentation we describe and discuss our long term experience concerning this winter index. We also pay attention to the evaluation of winter conditions in relation to the performance of winter maintenance of roads in the Czech Republic. Discussion will also include different perspectives of possibilities and methods of evaluation. Finally we will also touch the subject of how problematic it is to get the inputs about the transportation network and winter maintenance performance.