OHIO, USA — WTOL First Alert meteorologists are saying the snow that falls between Sunday night and Tuesday morning will easily be the biggest snow of the season, and more than likely the most the area has seen in over 5 years.
That has the crews responsible for keeping roads clear on high alert.
ODOT- District 2 spokesperson Rebecca Dangelo says for the third week in a row, full crews will be on 12 hours shifts to make sure drivers are safe on snow and ice-covered roads.
Dangelo adds they are really starting to get used to this with the snow we've been getting.
Dangelo says ODOT will have around 50 trucks out at all times starting at midnight on Sunday and almost all trucks across the 8 county district.
She says with this storm in particular, the challenge once again is the cold temperatures.
She says the temperature of the roads are already below freezing, so snow will stick to the ground faster than plow drivers can go over them.
"We like to consider either a wet or dry. So either all wet but not frozen or dry pavement, that is the goal," said Dangelo. "When we get these super cold temperatures that we've been having, they are staying out longer to make sure that the roads don't refreeze, especially during those overnights when the temperature drops even colder."
All of the ODOT garages in the area make their own liquid brine deicer.
But in these cold of temperatures, they’ve had to mix in a more expensive additive that lowers the freezing point of the brine, allowing it to work better. ODOT says they have dipped into that supply much more over the past weeks than they have in the past year.
Todd Gibson, who was working out at a local gym ahead of the storm wasn’t worried, but said people need to be prepared.
“Got gas in the snowblower and we have salt in case we need to put that salt down. If it gets too cold then obviously the salt doesn't really affect it,” said Gibson. “Again, just trying to take added measures to make sure that the driveway and sidewalks are good again for like the postal workers and what have you, but again if ODOT does their job and people do their job of keeping their driveways and the sidewalks clean, I think we'll be ok.”
Because they're expecting the snow to come down so quickly, officials say if you don't have to be out, stay in. And if you do have to leave the house, make sure you take extra time to get where you need to go.