The blizzard that dropped so much snow out west is heading this way.
But don't count on snow.
At most, New Hampshire will get sleet and freezing rain.....and then rain.
The highs Saturday may hit in the upper 40s.
But while this is not likely to be a white Christmas for the Granite State, the lack of snowfall has been a gift to state and local government budgets.
NHPR Correspondent Brian Early reports.
Here's one sound you haven't heard this year winter.
A plow truck.
And while skiers, sledders and white Christmas seekers wish for snowflake gifts this Holiday, there are a few benefits.
For one, State and local governments are saving alot of money.
Any guess to what it costs the state per hour in the middle of the storm?
Here's Bill Boynton, spokesperson for the New Hamphshire's Department of Transportation.
18 secs.
And that's just for the state.
The city of Manchester estimates that this time last year they had spent two hundred and seventy thousand dollars plowing and salting local roads.
Small towns like Hollis estimate their seasonal plowing costs at seventy five to eighty thousand dollars.
If that's the average for the rest of New Hampshire's towns, it can cost about 17 million dollars a year just to clear local roads.
But even though the state, cities and towns are saving money, some plowers are anxious to get to work.
Frank Thomas is Manchester's Director of Public Works.
18 secs.
But others, like Angelo Silva who works for Hollis Public works doesn't mind the dry ground.
10 secs.
But with winter now officially begun, D-O-T's Bill Boynton offers this warning.
12 secs.
For NHPR News, I'm Brian Early.
