UPDATED: Port Plow Crews Ready for Potential Snow Fall

It's been a strange winter, with an abundance of sunshine, lack of snow and most days feeling more like spring.

Between Madison and Milwaukee, we’ve received less than five inches of snow, which puts this year in the top 20 of having the least snowfall since the 1800s when they started tracking temperatures.

Don't be fooled, however. The National Weather Service predicts that Port Washington and the surrounding area will be hit with 3 to 7 inches of snow by Thursday night, with less than one-inch of extra accumulation on Friday.

"It sounds now that it's going to be midmorning tomorrow (Thursday) and now we’re talking I think 5 to 7 inches," said Port Washington Street Commissioner Dave Ewig. "Certainly at this point all of our salters are loaded ... everything’s fueled and ready to go out the door."

But that hasn't been the case for much of this year; in fact, crews only went out twice in December, Ewig said, and only to apply salt to the roads. That means the 20 percent that was left for the department's 2011 salt budget still mostly remains.

"Along with saving on the cost of salt, we’re obviously saving on the cost of overtime, we're saving on the cost of fuel, we're saving on the cost of … repair and maintanence of equipment," Ewig said.

But those savings are hurting elsewhere, including businesses that rely on the snow to boost sales. In Port Washington, Four Seasons Sales and Service told the Ozaukee Press that business was generally good as far as new sales goes, but they are still waiting for the first snow fall to bring in residents who realize their machines aren't working.