Punctual Snowfall Covers Town Thursday Morning

By Kendra Bobowick

It started falling right on time.

At 9:30 am on Thursday morning, December 13, the gathered clouds delivered the first flakes of expected heavy snow in the forecast. As morning weather predictions came true, Assistant Director of Parks Carl Samuelson indicated that town crews would quickly coordinate plowing efforts for later in the day and into the night.

“It’s an interesting symphony,” he said.

Highway Department Operations Manager Joe Tani said, “We were ready for it.” Luckily, the drivers caught by the first flakes had some help moving through the precipitation. “We pretreated the roads with sand and salt,” Mr Tani said. His crews were out plowing during the morning, and would be out for the storm’s duration, he said.

Unlike the organized snow clearing efforts in town, unexpected complications also arose as snow snuck in behind fire trucks responding to a chimney fire on Berkshire Road near Toddy Hill Road. The firefighters called for sanders before leaving the scene.

Traffic crawled and businessmen and women slipped out of work ahead of the plows with hopes of getting home safely. Only an hour before the sky turned white, Mr Samuelson had said, “It’s the first snow of the year. You blow the dust off [machinery] from last year and get ready.” Thinking ahead, he pictured the hillside at Treadwell Park, where sledders predictably will streak from top to bottom. With responsibility to clear the school and many municipal lots, recreation department personnel also clear the parks. “Most people don’t think of that,” he said.

Before 11 am emergency crews were already racing to motor vehicle accidents throughout town, with injuries near Botsford Hill Road. As traffic slowed to an idle along Route 25, drivers enjoyed a prolonged view of roadside businesses, and residents who were not yet home soon turned their thoughts toward home, hot chocolate, and maybe a snapping fire.