Shoppers, crews in New Jersey and Pennsylvania prepare for winter storm that could bring snow, ice and rain
At Ace Hardware in Turnersville, New Jersey, on Wednesday, customers were trying to do their best to get ahead of Thursday's winter weather.
The most popular item for shoppers was ice melt. Many said they didn't want to take any chances with the icy conditions.
Eileen Monastersky says it was exactly what she needed after she ran out during the last winter storm.
"You don't want people slipping and falling outside where you live. It's important for safety … for everybody out there," Monastersky said.
Some schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware have announced closures and delayed openings for Thursday because of the forecast. See the updating list.
New Jersey prepares for storm
At the Camden County Public Works Department, officials said 10,000 tons of salt is on hand as crews prepare to work around the clock.
Crews spent the afternoon loading up their salt trucks. The county says 100 of them will hit the roads starting at midnight.
"We got a lot of work ahead of us," said Bob Harris, who is the director of public works.
Harris says their primary focus is to get ahead of rush hour traffic.
"The importance of treating these roads, of course, is the commute to work, commute to school, our school buses. We want to be ice-free. That's our goal," he said.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation says crews started treating roads Wednesday afternoon and will continue through the night.
NJDOT is also encouraging drivers to avoid any unnecessary travel.
Pennsylvania crews get ready
PennDOT began brining and salting high-volume roads like the Schuylkill Expressway on Tuesday in anticipation of the storm.
By Wednesday night, crews were stopping at the salt yards to refill their trucks.
The combination of snow and ice could still make for a messy Thursday morning commute.
It will be "a challenging storm for sure," PennDOT spokesperson Brad Rudolph said.
"Traveling on ice is very dangerous," Rudolph said. "At least with snow, we can clear some of the travel lanes."
