Schuylkill County is expected to get its first snowstorm of the season this weekend.
The National Weather Service at State College issued a winter storm watch Wednesday for the county that will last from late Friday night through Sunday morning. Six or more inches of snow are possible.
According to the NWS, it will start snowing Friday evening with the most intense snowfall coming Saturday evening. Winds will be 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.
“It looks like Schuylkill County is right on the northern edge,” John LaCorte, meteorologist at NWS at State College, said Wednesday. “We have you now maybe in the 3 to 5 inch range.”
LaCorte said the most significant snowfall over the weekend will be further south in the Washington, D.C., area.
“If you like the snow, grab your skis and head down south,” LaCorte said.
Now matter how much snow falls over Schuylkill County, the Pottsville Streets Department is well prepared.
“We are watching it closely,” Tom Whitaker, Pottsville’s superintendent of streets, said Wednesday.
The street crew started putting the plows on the trucks earlier this week. Whitaker said the streets department has about 300 tons of salt and more than 300 tons of anti-skid on hand and went over all the snow emergency routes with the crew. All updates to the route are available on the city’s website at www.city.pottsville.pa.us.
Depending on how the storm develops into the weekend, Whitaker said the city can officially declare a snow emergency within 12 hours of the storm.
“It’s not the first big storm we have ever had,” Whitaker said. “Everyone just needs to remember to keep their heads and help their neighbor.”