Plows Head Out to Beat the Commute

The town's plows went out this afternoon to tackle one of the town’s few snowstorms this year.

“We’re trying to treat the roads before the evening commute,’’ David Crouse said.

The roads will be treated with salt, he said.

Right now the roads are strictly wet, he said. But he expects the snow will “pick up in intensity’’ soon.

The unseasonably mild winter has forced the town to rely on outside help only once since the October storm.

It is too early to say if private contractors will be used this time, he said. “We’ll have to see how the storm develops,’’ he said.

The milder-than-usual winter has also affected snowfall totals, at least so far, he said. The pavement is warmer than usual for this time of year, which has caused most of the snow that has fallen so far to melt.

“If this had been a colder winter, we’d have an inch of snow by now,’’ Crouse said.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning through 6 p.m. tomorrow. The predicted totals continue to inch up: Snow accumulation of 8 to 12 inches are forecast, along with up to a tenth of an inch of ice.