Forks Braces for Winter Storm Nemo

"So, are we ready for the storm?"

It was the first thing Forks Township Supervisor Dan Martyak asked during supervisor remarks at the Board of Supervisors' work session meeting Thursday night.

"The trucks are loaded," Public Works Director Mark Roberts said. "We're ready to go."

Roberts, though, is hoping the storm -- now dubbed Winter Storm Nemo -- won't be in the neighborhood of a foot in the Lehigh Valley that some forecasters are predicting. It's supposed to get going sometime Friday afternoon.

"It's been an expensive year," he told Patch.com after the meeting.

Roberts said that combating Nemo will be the 11th time out for his crews. And the costs continue to mount.

Roberts said snow removal costs now stand at $64,000 -- almost triple the $23,000 spent in 2012.

"In February we can get some of the biggest storms," he said. "It is what it is."

But he said Forks Township is ready.

Roberts said he'll deploy nine salt trucks first and will have a total of 15 trucks out plowing and salting roads in Forks Township, which is among the largest municipalities in Northampton County.

He said the trucks are fueled and greased and that extra blades are available too.

And Roberts will keep watching the forecast to see if the inch counts mount.

"I'm constantly monitoring," he said. "I don't want a major storm at this point."