Road Weather Management Program
photos of lightning, trucks plowing snow, an empty road before a storm, and an evacuation
Office of Operations 21st century operations using 21st century technologies

Welcome to Road Weather Management

The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) strives to sustainably strengthen the resiliency of our Nation's world-class highway system by mitigating the impacts weather can have on it and the environment. Our vision, mission, and core values drive this pursuit through collaboration and leadership in the road weather community. We focus on our mission to lead and support the road weather community in the development and deployment of innovative technologies, solutions, and strategies. These tools will enable agencies to better manage the transportation system and minimize the impacts of ever-changing adverse road weather conditions. This is achieved through a combination of applied research, knowledge and technology transfer, solution deployment support, and stakeholder engagement

Vision Statement:
To create a world class surface transportation system that is weather resilient, sustainable, efficient and Vision Zero safe.

Mission Statement:
Our mission is to lead and support road weather research, development and deployment of innovative technologies, solutions and strategies that will aid in mitigating and managing the disruptive impact of weather events on the nation's surface transportation system.

The Road Weather Front

Spotlight on Road Weather Management Today

(NEW WRMS Factsheet: Agency Tools to Manage Infrastructure Impacts during Flood Events: FHWA-HOP-21-013)
WRMS can mitigate the impact of major flooding events through preparation efforts that leverage and build data, tools, and agency relationships. As a result, agencies are better equipped for response and recovery efforts. As explained in This Fact sheet, during flooding events, protecting and preserving roadway infrastructure from damage and ensuring structural integrity for use are critical activities for agencies.

Leveraging Road Weather Data for Performance Management Dashboards and Reports
Data management tools can use road weather data from mobile and CV technologies to enhance existing performance measures and improve how agencies manage the performance of their road weather operations and maintenance activities. This fact sheet provides an overview of how agencies may leverage road weather data to develop and improve performance measures for enhanced storm management and performance management dashboards.

Weather-Responsive Management Strategies (WRMS) for Flood Management in Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska
Weather-Responsive Management Strategies (WRMS) can mitigate the impact of flooding events through preparation and prediction efforts that leverage and build data, tools, and relationships.  As a result, agencies are better equipped for response and recovery efforts. This case study highlights the experiences and lessons learned from the Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska DOTs while managing major flood events in the Missouri River basin, resulting in both similar and different approaches and experiences given the various agency relationships and resources available for flood management.

Automated Vehicles and Adverse Weather Final Report
With recent advancements in automated vehicle (AV) technology, FHWA is exploring AV needs, opportunities, and potential shortcomings during adverse weather conditions. This report summarizes how adverse weather and road weather conditions affect vehicle sensors and perception systems and how drivers react to or take back control from their vehicles, by discussing the relationship between weather and AV performance. It is intended to inform the USDOT research and development agenda, State and local transportation agency operational and maintenance strategies, and create awareness among private sector developers and designers on effects of adverse weather on AV operations. This project investigated how adverse weather and road weather conditions affects automated vehicles in three ways: 1) a literature review, 2) two experiments to observe the performance of AVs and their sensor systems under controlled conditions, and 3) three listening sessions with stakeholders. The Final Report captures the results of the project.

Guidelines for Deploying CV-Enabled WRTM Strategies
The Road Weather Management Program and the ITS Joint Program Office published a document titled Guidelines for Deploying Connected Vehicle-Enabled Weather Responsive Traffic Management Strategies (PDF 5MB). The document provides useful information for transportation agencies on how they can incorporate road weather connected vehicle data for traffic management operations and decision-making.

Weather Data Environment (WxDE)

The FHWA Road Weather Management Program's Weather Data Environment collects, quality checks, and disseminates atmospheric and road weather observations through a map interface, on-demand requests, and subscriptions. Observations are collected from departments of transportation's Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) fixed and transportable Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS) and from mobile sources with external road weather sensors. A WxDE Flyer is available and the system is located at https://wxde.fhwa.dot.gov.

Publications Available

EDC-5/Weather Responsive Management Strategies

  • Leveraging Road Weather Data for Performance Management Dashboards and Reports (HTML, PDF 1.4MB) (FHWA-HOP-20-051)
  • Weather-Responsive Management Strategies for Traveler Information During Flood Events (HTML, PDF 2.5MB) (FHWA-HOP-20-045)
  • Weather-Responsive Management Strategies — Transportation Agency Deployment (HTML, PDF 2.9MB) (FHWA-HOP-20-015)
  • Weather Responsive Management Strategies (WRMS)—Minnesota DOT Case Study (HTML, PDF 1.5 MB) (FHWA-HOP-19-080)

Traffic Analysis and Management

  • Integrated Modeling for Road Condition Prediction — Phase 3 Evaluation Report (2020) (HTML, PDF 1.5MB) (FHWA-HOP-20-062)
  • Integrated Modeling for Road Condition Prediction Phase 3 Project Report (HTML, PDF 2.0MB)
  • Integrated Modeling for Road Condition Prediction: Can IMRCP be a window into the future? (HTML, PDF 736KB)