Snow preparations underway as winter storm heads toward Tri-State area

NEW YORK (WABC) — Winter storm preparations begin as an impending mix of snow and rain is expected to hit the Tri-State area Thursday into Friday.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch in effect 6 a.m. Thursday through 4 p.m. Friday, with most of the area seeing between 5 to 10 inches of snow.

The New York City Department of Sanitation and New York City Emergency Management Commissioners held a briefing Wednesday on their snowstorm plan.

MORE: Severe weather alerts from the National Weather Service

Officials warn the Thursday evening commute will be difficult after the heaviest snow is supposed to fall between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

“If you don’t have to drive, please stay off the roads,” said Deanne Criswell, Commissioner of NYC Emergency Management Department.

The Sanitation department says it has 2,000 plow vehicles, 715 salt spreaders and over 200,000 tons of rock salt on hand and plenty of calcium chloride.

Roads will be pretreated Wednesday night with brine and pre-salting.

Also, Criswell says the city does not foresee any impacts to the vaccine or testing sites, which, as of now, are scheduled to operate normally. However, if conditions worsen then they say they will adjust accordingly.

Food sites that have the grab-and-go meals are open Wednesday and Thursday, but it is recommended to grab additional meals to stay off the roads on Thursday.

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