Crews prepare for heavy winds, blowing snow Tuesday night

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Crews in Southeast Wisconsin are preparing for snow and heavy winds Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Those winds could make for difficult road conditions. Crews with the Cudahy Public Works Department will be on standby ready to clean up.

"We have three brine trucks out brining all of our streets to pre-salt them, so it's harder for any snow to adhere to the road," Frank Miller, with Public Works, said.

Drifting snow is the biggest concern right now. Miller said those high winds will pick up the snow that's already on the ground, making it even harder to plow.

"If you're out late at night or very early in the morning when the wind is blowing, just be cognizant of that and drive accordingly," he said.

Michael Pyritz with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation said the winds and snow will lead to poor visibility. Be aware of large vehicles which may also have a hard time driving.

"It can also impact larger vehicles like tractor trailers and other box trucks, which may cause them to shift in the lane when those gusts hit," Pyritz said. "Depending where you are in the system, it may not be a really big deal, in other areas it may be a really big deal."

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is working with the counties to be prepared to plow that snow off the road, but the winds will not make it easy. Ice can easily form when this happens.

"It's not an overwhelming amount of snow or anything, but the snow will keep getting pushed back on the roadway, especially on the roadways that run perpendicular to where the wind's coming from," Pyritz said.

If you do have to be out driving, you can keep an eye on road conditions at 511WI.gov.