Hatboro-Horsham Prepared To Tackle Storm

HATBORO / HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —If it snows, the public works departments of Hatboro and Horsham Township are ready to go.

Most municipalities haven't had to deal with snow for some time over the past year or so, but with this weekend's forecast, towns like Horsham Township and Hatboro are springing to action.

"Our public works employees work hard and take a lot of pride in keeping roads clear during storms," Horsham Township Manager Bill Walker said. "They are our snow heroes during storms."

Walker said Horsham Township is prepared for whatever wintry mix comes its way.

Horsham Township has:

• About 2,700 tons of road salt, and are currently at full capacity.
• About 30 pieces of equipment on the road for salting and plowing, including eight large township dump trucks plus one road grader, 11 small township dump/pickup trucks, five large contractor dump trucks, and five backhoes/skid steers to help clear the majority of the 130 township cul-de-sacs.
• The township is under contract to salt and plow the following state-owned roads: Limekiln Pike, Horsham Road, Norristown Road, and Welsh Road.
• The township is under contract to salt and plow the following county-owned roads: Horsham Road (Rt. 611 to Blair Mill Road) and Butler Pike (Limekiln Pike to Welsh Road)
• The township does not salt and plow the following state-owned roads: Route 611, Blair Mill Road, and County Line Road.
• The township salts and plows 93 miles of township roads.
• Township-owned sidewalks are salted and shoveled within 24 hours when the snow stops.

In neighboring Hatboro, Borough Manager Diane Hegele said the borough's public works team is closely monitoring the weather closely as it prepares in advance for storms, especially this weekend's forecast.

Hegele said the borough will have two trucks ready to go if the forecast is correct.

"We will be out as soon as any precipitation falling from the sky sticks," Hegele said. "If it is a lot, we can pretty much promise you that trash will be collected on Monday morning too."

According to the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, a coastal system will bring widespread precipitation to the Lower Bucks County and Philadelphia region.

Snow and some mixed precipitation will occur northwest of Interstate 95 on Saturday evening, the weather service said.

Wintry weather is likely for the area as the system moves into the region on Saturday into Sunday.

Precipitation is expected to begin Saturday afternoon or early evening, and then taper off overnight. Some lingering light rain or snow is possible Sunday morning.

About 1-4 inches of snow, mixing with or changing over to rain or sleet at times is projected for northwest of the Interstate 95 corridor through the Interstate 78 corridor.

Mainly rain is expected near and southeast of Interstate 95 but may begin or end as wet snow near Interstate 95 with little to no accumulation.

Rainfall is forecast to be 0.5 -1 inches of rain across the region with the heaviest amounts possible closer to the coast. Localized flooding of low-lying and poor drainage areas remains possible, the weather service said.