Mmm...slush.

Happy new year, everyone. Here's a weather report from the Item.

WAKEFIELD - With yet another winter storm that closed out 2007 and a predicted
two to four inches on the way, the Department of Public Works was out since
midnight dealing with snowfall that delivered less than predicted.Department of
Public Works Director Richard Stinson said sanding and salting operations began
around midnight, about three hours after the snow started. During the night the
snow switched to rain and Stinson said at 2 a.m. the streets were starting to
get down to bare pavement due to the earlier work. By 4 a.m. the streets were
clear due to rain but dropping temperatures about a half hour later brought
snow-covered streets by rush-hour - for the relatively few vehicles that were
actually on the roadway. Plowing began around 6 a.m. with a full complement of
DPW vehicles on the roadways plowing the snow and slush by 7 a.m. Stinson
estimated that operations should be complete by noon to 1 p.m.“Our forecast was
for three to six inches, so you gear up for that,” Stinson noted. “You don’t
treat the roads the same if you’re figuring your not going to plow. It does make
it more costly, fortunately this one wasn’t,” said Stinson, due to the
relatively quick duration of the switch from rain to snow and the fact that the
storm was winding down by sunrise.The DPW director said that as late as last
evening, at least one Boston television station was predicting eight inches of
snow in Saugus, with another giving a five to seven inch prediction for the
area. Stinson estimated that about an inch and a half of wet snow fell on
Wakefield.