Some Bismarck snow plow operators will ring in the new year clearing residential streets.

Saturday's snowstorm dropped 10.2 inches of snow in Bismarck, and residents spent the last day of 2006 digging out of driveways and parking lots. The snow removal crews have worked since Saturday morning clearing away snow from emergency routes and major arteries.

"We're plugging away,"said Keith Hunke, Bismarck assistant city administrator. He also is serving as Public Works' service operations director, which was his former position, until a permanent director is hired.

Bismarck had all 14 plows out by noon Saturday; the plows switched to clearing residential streets Sunday. It generally takes eight hours to clear the emergency routes and 12 hours to clear the major arteries and school routes. It will be about noon today before residential streets will be finished.

The city plows roads based on a route priority. They are emergency routes, followed by school emergency routes, followed by major arterial routes and then residential streets. A map of the routes is available on the public works Web site at www.bismarck.org. Click on public works from the "select a department" drop-down menu. Click on "street department" from the left-hand menu, then click on the link for snow removal.

Once the crews finish with residential streets, they will move to taking snow out of the downtown area, keeping them busy into the week, Hunke said. The weather forecast for the week is helping, he said.

Weather through Wednesday is anticipated to be calm, with partly to mostly sunny skies, National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Abeling said. There is a slight chance of snow for Wednesday night.

Saturday's snow was the northern fringe of the storm that passed through Denver. It dumped more snow onto the average 20 inches of snow Denver received a week earlier. The storm canceled flights and closed Interstate 70 and highways in Colorado. In eastern Colorado on Saturday, the storm dropped 18 inches and wind swept it into 15-foot drifts. As it came into South Dakota and North Dakota, it was able to produce the snow that it did because of a low pressure system over Montana, Abeling said.

The storm dropped anywhere from five to 14 inches of snow in North Dakota. Bismarck received 10 inches of snow.

"This will help the ski area," Abeling said.

The counties along South Dakota's border received the greatest snowfall amounts, with Ashley reporting the greatest snowfall total.

Snow-packed roads and icy patches made for poor driving conditions. Bismarck police reported 28 accidents Saturday and Mandan reported two within city limits. The Burleigh County Sheriff's Department received three property accident reports, with one being cited for care required.

It was a record-breaking storm, as well. It broke the record precipitation for the day and the monthly record for precipitation in a 24-hour period. Bismarck received .72 inches of precipitation Saturday, breaking the 1922 record of .49 inches. This snowstorm broke the Dec. 29 and 30, 1922, record of .67 inches of precipitation. It snowed 8.4 inches in 1922, setting the monthly record of precipitation for a 24-hour period.

The storm came too early to break any New Year's Day records. According to National Weather Service records, there have been 11 New Year's Days with an inch or more of snowfall, 30 New Year's Days with a trace and 60 New Year's Days without snowfall between 1886 and 2006.

The snowiest New Year's Days in Bismarck, according to the National Weather Service: 1999 with 4.9 inches, 1887 and 1960 with 3.9 inches, 1941 with 3.8 inches, 1976 with 2.5 inches and 1907 with 2 inches.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)