Many American cities are digging themselves out of the snow. Where does it all go?

+ Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music The Best Music of 2025 All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Fresh Air Up First Featured Embedded The NPR Politics Podcast Throughline Trump's Terms More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop The Best Music of 2025 All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Many American cities are digging themselves out of the snow. Where does it all go? Many cities have been digging themselves out of the snow. But where does all of it go? National Many American cities are digging themselves out of the snow. Where does it all go? February 8, 20268:33 AM ET Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday

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+ Many American cities are digging themselves out of the snow. Where does it all go? Listen &middot; 2:05 2:05 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5701348/nx-s1-9639681" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript

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+ AYESHA RASCOE, HOST: Last month, 22 inches of snow fell in Faust, North Carolina, about 12 inches in Newark, New Jersey, and over 30 inches in New Mexico. We've all been digging ourselves out, and we aren't talking about cute, light, fluffy snow. JEREMY HASSAN: Four or 5 inches froze up and it created that snowcrete or icecrete (ph), whatever everybody's calling it. RASCOE: That's Jeremy Hassan. He heads the Water, Sewers and Streets Bureau in Arlington County, Virginia. Snowcrete is hard, icy, filled with salt, litter and who knows what else. So that got us to thinking, where does all that snow go? HASSAN: Any and all places that the county has controlled space to store it at, like in front of our courthouse area. And then we have several other parking lots and places throughout the county that we're challenged to take it to. It's been very tiresome. It's been challenging. RASCOE: And you can't just shove it into a nearby lake or river. Groundwater supplies need to be protected, but not all towns have a bunch of parking lots. JOSHUA GOODMAN: You know, in New York, our one nonrenewable resource is curb space, right? We have an extremely finite amount of free real estate available. RASCOE: Joshua Goodman is the Deputy Commissioner at the New York City Department of Sanitation. He says their snowbanks can get up to over 20 feet. Because of limited space, Goodman's city brings the snow to giant ice melters known as hot tubs. GOODMAN: And then a front-end loader will load about 1,000 pounds at a time into the snow Jacuzzis, the hot tubs. Actually, the water inside is only 38 degrees, just warm enough to melt the snow, and then it goes into the New York City sewer system and then onto a wastewater treatment plant. RASCOE: Goodman estimates the hot tubs have melted 240 million pounds of snow and ice so far. But he says, please don't be fooled by the name. GOODMAN: If you see one of these, as tempting as it is, don't jump in. And - you know, and they steam up, and they look beautiful, but it's not the kind of place to have a spa day. RASCOE: And a wastewater plant is no place to treat yourself. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor MessageBecome

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