Mass. state snow removal teams gearing up

(NECN: Alysha Palumbo, Weston, Mass.) - After shoveling out from storms the past two weekends, many Bay Staters are hoping this weekend’s predicted storm fizzles out before dumping much more snow on the state.

Venkat Narayanan is traveling from Connecticut to Massachusetts and back this weekend.

"Last I heard it was going to be just some rain and snow, so I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as they had predicted before," he said.

"It would be great if it was rain it’s better to drive," said Kara Lahhoud of Worcester, Mass., "I have to work Saturday night and Sunday night, so I’m not looking forward to my drive home from work on Sunday morning if it’s snow."

But don’t put away those snowblowers just yet, because as we all know, New England weather can change in a matter of minutes.

"North and west of the city we expect somewhere in the order of 6-10 inches, Boston is the variable, it could be 10 inches, it could be 4 inches ... and then south and east of the city we only expect 1-2 inches and a lot of rain,” said MassDOT Highway Administrator Frank DePaola.

DePaola says with the unpredictable forecast, the state has to be prepared for the worst.

"We have spent the week restocking our supply of salt materials and making brine for where we use brine, our staffs are well-rested, we’re ready to staff this storm and work it," he said.

DePaola says the timing of this storm, as with previous storms on the weekends, should help tremendously.

"The fewer cars on the road the more efficient we can be," said DePaola, "we don’t have to deal with as many traffic incidents, we don’t have to have our plows divert around crashes or other incidents, makes us more efficient which means we can keep the roads passable."