It's a winter storm that has forecasters scratching their heads and officials not knowing what exactly to prepare for. In New Haven, they're planning for over 6 inches of snow within about 24 hours.
Jeff Pescosolido, chief of operations at New Haven Department of Public Works, says they have enough manpower and vehicles in place ready to respond and their goal is to get the roads clear quickly.
It's people like Michael Michaud of Conroy Landscaping who has been counting down the hours until the snow is falling and he and his coworkers can start plowing.
After a late start to the winter, Conroy is hoping for a blizzard. He says, "I'm out for a day to two to three days straight sometimes."
In East Haven, officials and residents are worried about flooding, but people walking along Cosey Beach Ave are thinking positive about snow.
Ann Gagliardi of East Haven says, "It will be good for summer, then not so many bugs and the flowers will grow. We really need icy cold and a whole lot of icy snow."
Meanwhile, this all feels like déjà vu for New Londoners.
Almost exactly one year ago, on Jan. 26, 2015, New London’s first sizable storm featured nearly 2 1/2 feet of snow. The city essentially shut down for days.
Now we're about to see the first big winter weather event of the season, which is also a first for the city’s new administration.
"We've got 1,000 tons of salt in the shed and a couple of new trucks,” said Dave DeNoia, New London DPW superintendent and logistics chief.
Another new toy, with a price tag of just under $100,000: a nifty sidewalk machine, getting the job done more efficiently.
“It will probably will reduce it by I would say easily 30 percent,” said DeNoia.
Learning from past mistakes, city, business and residential leaders have put together a list of shared expectations for winter weather well in advance.
“We have flyers, we have it on our website and we have it on our Facebook page,” said Sear.
But Sear said some of the pressure should be alleviated in attacking this storm.
“It's a weekend. There aren't schools open and there aren't people that need to go to work,” he said.
Road crews are expected to report Saturday morning at 10, at which time they will pre-treat the streets with some of the 1,000 tons of salt on hand.
