(WXYZ) — Families across metro Detroit are preparing for a blast of winter weather. 7 First Alert Meteorologists are predicting several inches of snow and wind gusts up to 50 mph for some areas across metro Detroit.
For the last two days, salt trucks in Oakland County have been out on the roads salting and applying brine around the clock. The Oakland County Road Commission says they have at least 100 trucks ready to go depending on what materializes.
"One of the challenging things is it can be a dusting of snow and it can be as dangerous as a foot of snow. So we have to be out salting in those kind of conditions," said Craig Bryson with the Oakland County Road Commission.
Bryson says their team is currently focusing on the most heavily traveled roads with the highest speeds like the freeways, Woodward Avenue, Telegraph Rd, and Orchard Lake Rd. He says as temps get lower, their concern grows for icy conditions.
"The salt begins to lose efficiency at about 10 degrees. When we get down below 10, especially below five, it’s totally ineffective. So, then we’re stuck pushing the snow off the roads and waiting for the temperatures to come up," Bryson explained.
In Macomb County, 30 trucks are currently on the road doing the same thing. The road commission says they're currently focusing on primary roads that are heavily traveled. The road commission also says they're planning on putting drivers on a staggered schedule to keep roads safe and clear as the storm approaches.
The city of Detroit says they’re monitoring the weather and will respond accordingly.
Meantime utility companies say they’re preparing to respond to outages as winds up to 50 mph are expected and will likely impact power lines. DTE says they will have more details about their plan of attack Friday, but have started preparing their crews.
Local residents say they're concerned about how widespread the outages may become.
"We’ve been keeping an eye on it. We have an occasional tendency to have our power lost. It’s not very reliable where we live so with that we have a concern about that, especially with the cold," said Chris King who lives in Plymouth. "It’s scary. It happens every once in a while at our condo and it’s not a pleasant experience because it usually takes several hours or a couple days to get the power back."
