The first city in our region to feel Monday’s storm was Sault Ste. Marie, where it began around 10 in the morning.
School buses had been cancelled already as a precaution, and libraries closed early.
The city and its plowing crews were ready and will be doing their best during and after the snow blast.
All city plows, graders, and sanding equipment were out in full force in Sault Ste. Marie as the snow began to fall.
Susan Hamilton Beach is the Public Works Director for the City of Sault Ste. Marie.
"We have absolutely all crews deployed. They are out on the roads primarily on the mains, currently. That will be the focus for the day, keeping traffic moving. Certainly, we will try to get to the subs as quickly as is possible." said Hamilton Beach.
Depending on the weather service, forecasts show as much as 30 centimetres of accumulation for the Algoma District.
"Now, if we do end up seeing upwards of 25 cms of snow today, that could be historically significant. In fact, back in 1967 was when we saw 21 cms of snow for today, so it will be interesting to see just how much snow we do get throughout these hours today." said CTV News Northern Ontario’s Weather Specialist Jessica Gosselin.
Because a new council was elected late last year, the 2019 snow removal budget has not yet been set.
Hamilton Beach says the city allocated north of $7 million in 2018, and she says crews will be busy for the better part of a week after this storm.
"Yes, we are starting a new year of 2019. We are at full budget and we hope to, obviously, spend it wisely, but we're off to a great start. This will be followed up by snow removal processes. We'll end up probably with some snow banks that will need to be removed in key areas for visibility etc." said Hamilton Beach.
The public works director says city crews hope to begin plowing secondary and side roads overnight.
