Philadelphia residents enjoy night out ahead of heaviest snowfall in nearly a decade

Philadelphia is now under a snow emergency. It went into effect Saturday night as the city braces for the most snow it's seen in years.

At the salt yard on Whittaker Avenue in North Philly, brine trucks and plows were sitting at the ready. The Streets Department says crews spent part of the day making sure the more than 600 pieces of equipment, that will be used to clear the snow, are ready to roll.

"I'm not ready for the snow, but I did prepare for the snow," Shelita Allen said. "I went to the market and got a couple things, got my salt, have my shovel, it's the best I can do at this point."

Allen and her friend, Angeliqua Glass, ventured out in the brutal cold Saturday night before the storm hit. In fact, many people were bundled up in Old City before hunkering down for the storm.

"Especially with restaurant week being the next couple weeks we really wanted to get out and enjoy the city before we are couped up inside," Glass said.

More than one thousand city workers are preparing to work around the clock to clear city streets once the snow starts to fall.

The snow emergency will remain in place until road conditions improve.

City officials are urging people who do not need to park on city streets to move their cars, and to move them off of snow emergency routes.

The Philadelphia Parking Authority is opening six city garages, and allowing people to park there for five-dollars per 24-hour period.

Everyone we spoke with says they're prepared, and are looking forward to a snow day.

"We're playing football pools with snow totals, and the snow pool is how many inches of snow. I'm at 17 inches," said Ava Glass.

The city's streets department says the roads have been pre-treated, and crews will work in shifts 24/7. The mayor is promising plows will go down every street in every neighborhood.