As many in the Omaha metro get ready to hunker down and wait out the impending winter storm at home, that means some business are gearing up for big business.
Private snow removal contractors like Jay Moore, owner of Jay Moore Landscaping, is looking forward to snow. "It's nice to have the revenue in the winter. "It's really nice having the revenue for wintertime because of course in the green industry that we're in, there's not much landscaping or yard work that we can do this time of year. We don't really bank on it, but it's nice when it does come."
Another business that is doing well ahead of the snow is Westlake Ace Hardware, along with other stores that sell snow removal tools. Westlake's 84th and Center General Manager, Mike Dowling, says they are selling winter weather items like they're going out of style. "Right now we're looking at ice melt, ice scrapers, shovels and snowblowers as primarily the big things that we're moving out."
Dowling says there is no need to worry about a shortage of needed items though, as they are prepared for whatever winter throws at us. "We actually have a whole semi-load full of ice melt coming in that we kind help distribute throughout the Westlake's here in town. Other than that we're pretty much stocked on everything else real well. You never know when a weather event is gonna happen, so we don't shy away from making sure we have enough product on hand."
Speaking of ice melt, city crews will be using their fair share of the melting crystals as they clear roads. Street Maintenance Engineer Austin Rowser says crews will work around the clock to make sure motorists can get to their destinations. "Once the snow starts accumulating on the pavement we plow it off as fast as we can and get some salt down to get everything melted away. If we do get that flash freeze in there, we'll get some salt down on that which will give a little pre-treatment to the snow but it's a tough job for sure."
Rowser says although they'll be working hard to keep streets clear, this storm isn't anything out of the norm for his crews. "I would really kinda categorize this in the bucket of pretty normal winter weather. You know, this is a rain that turns into possibly some kind of brief icing event with some snow after it, which is really common for this area."
Rain Wednesday evening is expected to turn to snow by Thursday, with a frigid drop in temperatures in between. Snow totals are projected between three to five inches, with isolated areas getting slightly more.