FOR HUB CITY TIMES

MARSHFIELD — News outlets across central Wisconsin are reporting a significant amount of snow expected to arrive this week, which will keep the Street Division working hard to keep the streets clear of ice and snow accumulations.

They’re calling for a dusting to 1.5 inches of snow accumulating by the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 21. Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, Feb. 22, slightly more significant amounts of snow in the range of 3.75 inches are expected. The area will see significant snow accumulations on Wednesday evening and all day Thursday, Feb. 24. Throughout the day on Thursday, accumulations of a half to one inch per hour are expected, with snow totals for this week anticipated being up near 18 inches of a mix of wet, normal, and dry snow, along with gusty wind speeds picking up near the end of the storm late Thursday evening. 

According to the Street Division, “Our priority is to help keep everyone aware that we are now taking steps in preparation for these anticipated storms. We will utilize every snow and ice removal asset, beginning with anti-icing before snow accumulations. We hope that applying anti-icing will help prevent the freezing and bonding of snow and ice onto the roads, which should allow our staff to save time so they can be available to remove snow and ice for the more significant snowstorm expected on Thursday.”

Each morning this week, the goal will be to make the streets as clear of ice and snow as possible for the early commute. “We will monitor and plow snow throughout the day to keep up with snow accumulating on our streets. For the safety of our crew and well-being, we will need to schedule breaks later in the evenings when traffic is lighter.

“It’s our top priority to make sure emergency vehicles can maneuver safely on our roads, so parking stalls and other areas will need to be used to hold large amounts of snow so that we can maintain plowed drive lanes. With these anticipated snow accumulations, it will be necessary for everyone to understand to be patient and mindful of our crews and give our operators extra room to get their job done. Once teams see snow accumulations are tapering off, we will begin to schedule clean-up from parking stalls and areas of heavy travel.”