Another nice mess as Worcester County braces for foot of snow starting Sat. afternoon

WORCESTER — Dave Cahill of Douglas rushed to his car Friday morning with a recently bought shovel in hand as the wind cut through the open air of the parking lot at Lowe’s.

Cahill was one of many customers exiting the Lincoln Street store with either a shovel or a bag of sand, a sign that the area is set to see up to 12 inches of snow in a 24-hour storm due to start Saturday.

“I love the snow,” said Cahill. “I can’t wait to shovel.”

The first flakes could start as early as 4 p.m., although snowfall will start to intensify around 7 p.m., according to Rob Megnia, a meteorologist for the weather service.

Beginning Sunday afternoon to Monday morning, temperatures will drop to upper teens, maybe lower, added Megnia.

"Get snow cleanup done sooner rather than later,” suggested Megnia. “Could be a situation where your driveway or street could turn into a sheet of ice.”

Shortly after Friday at noontime, Spectrum issued a warning saying that the company is preparing for potential service outages.

Raymond Delisle, the chancellor at the Diocese of Worcester, said Catholics are encouraged to attend Saturday Mass at their local parishes this weekend, and have no obligation to go Sunday if that’s the only day they can go.

The snowfall will be more intense for Worcester than other communities west of Interstate 495 and Boston, said Megnia, with 4 inches anticiapted for Boston and 6 to 8 inches near Framingham.

“Really depends on how warm or cold, which is really uncertain now,” said Megnia.

Jay J. Fink, the Worcester's commissioner of Public Works & Parks, said preparations set off Friday, with plows mounted on trucks by the end of the day.

“We are pretreating roadways with calcium with salt brine solution," said Fink. “When the snow starts it will assist with keeping the roadways wet, so they don't start to freeze up or the snow doesn't get packed down.”

The city implemented a parking ban beginning at 10 p.m. Saturday. Municipal parking garages will be free starting at 7 p.m., with the exception of the Federal Plaza Garage at 570 Main St.

Fink suggesting that residents start figuring out sooner rather than later where they will park their cars. During declared winter bans, the city's parking garages are open and free to residents. No start time was set as of Friday afternoon.

Fink added that during the storm, the city will deploy about 330 to 350 pieces of equipment to clear the streets.

“It's a little bit less than what we've had in years past,” admitted Fink. “For the city, it’s a medium-sized storm so we've got plenty of time to push this.

“We're not going to stop plowing until the snow stops or we've cleared everything from curb to curb.”

Steven Labrie, the store manager at Lowe’s, said the store was busy in anticipation of the storm, with salt and shovels becoming popular right before a storm, once again.

“It's the first one always that gets people to remember that they can’t find their shovels,” said Labrie.

Megnia added that communities north of Worcester will see about the same amount of snowfall as Worcester, also at about 8 to 12 inches.

Despite last winter being a milder snow season, the area saw a similar snowfall in March with 12 inches of snow, according to Megnia.

Fitchburg Mayor Samantha Squailia, who took office earlier this week, echoed Megnia. Her city has put into effect a parking ban starting at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Squailia advised constituents to stay off the road during snowfall.

“The Fitchburg Police Department will be doing additional police patrols Saturday afternoon,” said Squailia. “The Parks Division staff met Thursday to go over routes, actively trying to hire more snowplow contractors.

“As with other municipalities, there’s a lack of snowplows.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester County braces for storm with potential foot of snow