Plows and road crews will be out this weekend as the first snow storm of the year hits the region. National Weather Service meteorologist Alan Dunham said snow will likely start falling Saturday night.
The precipitation will be, “mostly snow in northwestern Rhode Island, but the middle of the state, up even including Providence, could see a pretty decent amount of ice build-up,” Dunham predicted.
The southern part of the state and the south coast of Massachusetts will get two to four inches, Dunham said, before it turns to rain. That rain could turn to ice as temperatures drop Sunday night.
“Anything that’s lying around, any sludge or anything, is going to freeze real fast Sunday night, because you’re going to go from temperatures in the upper thirties on Sunday, dropping down to the single digits Sunday night,” Dunham said.
Quickly dropping temperatures makes timing key for road crew, Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) spokesman Charles St. Martin said
“When it’s raining heavily we can’t put salt down because it’ll wash out very quickly. So when the temperature drops we’ll get out there and dust all the roads,” St. Martin explained.
St. Martin urged drivers to use caution and give plows plenty of space to work. RIDOT has a fleet of 130 state trucks, with 400 private plow crews they can call on as needed.
Both St. Martin and Dunham said the expected mix of rain and snow could make for dangerous road conditions.
“Travel on Saturday night and Sunday morning – actually most of Sunday – is going to be on the tricky side,” Dunham warned. His advice: “Basically, you know, if you’ve got anything to do that you want to get done this weekend, make sure you get it done on Saturday.”
Dunham and his colleagues at the National Weather Service are currently working without pay, because of the government shutdown, which is reaching the one-month mark.