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The first snow storm of the new year dropped just under a foot of snow on the city Thursday night into Friday morning and public works crews are still at work clearing snow from the roadways, the majority of which are driveable but slippery.

Fire Chief Kevin Keddy drove through the city this morning before dawn and the majority of the city’s main roads were passable at the time, he said.

Streets were salted Thursday afternoon in preparation of the storm, according to City Engineer Joe Cunha, but ceased later in the evening as temperatures dropped too low for the salt to work. By 6 p.m. Thursday a crew of eight public works employees and seven trucks started to move the snow and continued to do so overnight, their biggest hurdle being the snow drifts caused by high winds, he said.

“It was light, it blew around and because of that there was a lot of drifting,” Cunha said. Public works employees had to plow areas several times because of the drifting, he said, and continue to do so.

Main Street and Memorial Drive have been mostly cleared but slippery conditions still exist on the majority of roadways that may have been plowed but not completely cleared as of yet.

Many restaurants and businesses in the city shuttered their doors early Thursday night in preparation of the winter storm event and are in the process of digging out store fronts and sidewalks. By Friday morning, despite the Governor’s call for a state of emergency, city officials declared a day of ‘business as usual’ in city hall.

The National Weather Service reports temperatures in the city to be around four degrees Friday night.

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