An Oregon Department of Transportation vehicle clears snow from the edge of Forest Road 45 with a snowblower in 2015.

When the snow falls, the plows, blowers and other heavy snow-removal equipment come out.

The Oregon Department of Transportation has 45 pieces of heavy equipment ready to clear snow from highways in the district covering Central Oregon, said Peter Murphy, agency spokesman in Bend. The fleet includes snowplows, snowblowers and graders.

Spanning from Madras to Chemult and Sisters to Brothers, the district rarely has its full fleet of snow-removal equipment taxed. But when there is heavy snow, like there was in and around Bend just before Thanksgiving, local crews may put out a call for reinforcements. The preholiday storm piled up to a foot of snow on much of Bend.

“We were bringing in help from Brothers,” Murphy said.

Who drives all of the equipment? That depends on the people who are working and what certifications they have.

“Many of our people can handle (operating) multiple rigs,” he said.

The city of Bend also has an arsenal of snow-removal equipment waiting for the next wintry storm. It includes 19 plows and two graders, 19 pieces total, David Abbas, streets and operations director, wrote in an email.

When a storm hits, typically all of the equipment will be out clearing roads around Bend. Abbas said in the event of a major storm, he can call on other city public works employees who have commercial driver’s licenses.

“If there’s a major event going on, we don’t want any plows sitting in the yard,” he said.

When the snow reaches half a foot, the city may also call in contractors for help clearing the roads.

ODOT handles clearing highways as it passes through Central Oregon towns, and smaller cities have their own, smaller fleets.

In Madras, a half-foot of snow on the ground is when road crews tackle the chore of clearing snow, said Rod Fulton, the city’s streets supervisor. Madras has one snowplow, one grader and one snow thrower, which mounts onto the front of a tractor.

For now, the equipment is enough, he said, “but as the city grows they’ll have to invest in more of them.”

Winter just started, and more snow is falling. The National Weather Service forecast calls for a chance of snow every day from today through Christmas.

A series of weather systems coming off of the Pacific Ocean is bringing moisture that may fall as snow, said Jim Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pendleton.

“It’s pretty active all week,” he said, looking at the forecast.

— Reporter: 541-617-7812, ddarling@bendbulletin.com

Editor’s note: This article has been corrected.

An earlier version of this story misidentified the number of plows the city of Bend has on hand.

The Bulletin regrets the error.