In heavy snow many cities have trouble finding hydrants. I think that Providence, R.I. has a good system in place that helps somewhat find those snow burried hydrants. A white band is painted on the nearest pole. It's about two feet wide and placed about eight feet up. On that white band painted in black is usually an Arrow pointing to the left or right, or an "X", with an arrow to the left or right. Each also has a number to signfy how many feet away that hydrant is.
An example is; number 50 with an arrow pointing to the right means a hydrant 50 feet from that pole to the right.
number 30 with an "X" and an arrow pointing to the left means hydrant across the street, 30 feet to the left opposite the pole.
I think just another thought would be to use luminous paint that would show up a little better at night.
Just a pretty good idea I thought. I think in Providence, the members themselves would go out on hydrant inspection during warmer weather and paint those on the poles themselves.
And finally let me say "Hats Off" to those FDNY and FDNY/EMS Members for doing such a Great job under some very tough weather conditions. And CERTAINLY, let's not forget those Behind the scene Call Takers, and Dispatchers. I just hope extra people were assigned to handle some of these calls knowing a major storm was coming. (Reserve rigs etc).