The old Boy Scout motto kept being repeated yesterday at a news conference about preparing for the expected massive snow storm starting tonight….Be Prepared…was the pitch from County Executive Mark Poloncarz because the storm will be feet….not inches.
“It is certain that a significant amount of snowfall, measured in feet, will occur, starting late Thursday night around midnight, between Thursday and Friday, in which there may be an all-day snow, with snow at a rate of two inches or more per hour, for Friday in the Buffalo Metro Region.”
Poloncarz says the National Weather Service forecasts the storm will cover a lot of territory since the traditional snow bands off Lake Erie are ten-miles wide, while this storm will have bands twenty-miles in width.
Snow plows are ready and more are being readied to get the maximum number of vehicles possible ready to go. Erie County D-P-W Commissioner William Geary told a Tuesday news conference things start late today, with the first road salt.
“We have more than enough drivers, over 70 drivers for the 36 plow trucks that are ready to go and I’m sure our mechanical staff, men and women putting these trucks together, will have a few more before the storm gets to that intense period on Friday. But, again, stay tuned in, listen to the media reports as far as where the snow is. Try to avoid those areas.”
Because this is the first real snowfall of the season, Geary says to drive safely because most highway drivers are out of practice for icy roads and they should have emergency gear like water, snacks and charged cell phones…just in case.
