Berrien County prepares for lake effect snow

 

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich -- Berrien County road crews are preparing for the lake effect snow that is expected to continue overnight.

"Well we’re preparing for snow. It’s lake effect so it could hit us, it could blow right over us. Only time will tell," said Kevin Stack, Interim Director of the Berrien County Road Department.

Night shifts are scheduled until 2:30 Thursday morning.

By 2 a.m., the department will decide whether it needs the full day crew to come in at 4 a.m. or go about business as usual.

However, with temperatures dropping, the department says snow isn't its only concern.

"Snow doesn’t dictate how busy it is. Ice, just ice and freezing rain could provide us a lot more of a challenge," said Stack.

A challenge that some visitors are prepared for.

"It’s cold. We came up from home which is in southeast Indiana and I was hoping to see snow. We’ll see what we get tonight," said visitor Mike Daughetee.

"Well we saw the weather change from our first night on Sunday to today. So it was a lot of low clouds on that day, brightened up and now they’ve come back again. It feels like snow is coming," said visitor Jenny Daughetee.

When the snow arrives, officials are asking people to stay as safe as possible with some simple instructions.

"Plan for extra time when traveling from point a to point b. Give yourself plenty of time. Leave plenty of space travel distance between you and the car in front of you. When approaching intersections, they may be a little slick until our material starts to activate. Just a reminder if you do get behind one of our plows, don’t crowd the plow. Stay back a little bit so they can see you. If they see you them, they know you’re back there and they can pre-plan but just remember they’re spreading material behind them as well so you don’t want to get that on the front of your car," said Stack.