We are currently under a Winter Storm Watch and have the potential for 2 or more of inches of snow Wednesday, January 3. The Watch will likely be upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning later today.
KEY POINTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
-- Increased confidence of a winter storm producing 1"-3” of snow and sleet on most surfaces. A trace to 0.04” of freezing rain is possible along the immediate coast.
-- Wintry precipitation is expected to develop late Wednesday morning, and persist through Wednesday night. Travel will become hazardous.
-- The next winter storm briefing will be issued by 5 PM Tuesday.
CITY OF NORTH MYRTLE BEACH PREPARATIONS
-- A coastal city such as ours does not make a huge investment in snow plows and other snow removal equipment but we do have several trucks equipped with snow plows and a motor grader with plow that we use to remove snow when it occurs. We also maintain a supply of road salt and salt spreaders.
-- The snow plows are prepped and ready to roll, as are the salt spreaders.
-- We do not put salt on roads until the initial moisture hits them. If salt is put down while the roads are dry, passing cars just blow it to the side of the road. Also, road salt is activated by moisture. So, when the first moisture hits the roads, we will begin our road salting operation, the initial pass taking about 2-1/2 hours. Initially, we do not salt or plow all roads in the city. Our initial objective is to salt and plow major intersections and roadways as needed.
-- Street Division staff have already been placed on a Wednesday work schedule that reflects current projections for the storm's arrival in our area.
-- City Hall and all other city services and facilities will be open for business throughout the week.
-- Wednesday sanitation collection will occur according to the regular schedule. Plan on a normal sanitation collection forThursday, and, if the storm's impact on roads interferes with normal collection, we will post that information here.
