MILFORD — Members of the town's public works department were out in force on Friday, clearing sidewalks and getting ready for the storm to strike.

Josh Ruoff and his co-workers were making their way around the Milford Oval on Friday morning, using leaf blowers to clear the sidewalks of the dry, light snow that started falling in the wee hours of the morning.

"Leaf blowers are much better for this kind of snow than shovels," said Ruoff. "But come five o'clock tonight I don't think this method will work anymore."

Snow plows, fueled and full of sand and salt sat at the ready on the Milford Oval.

The Milford Fire Department has been sending out messages to local residents using its Nixle public notification system spreading the word that the National Weather Service is calling for sustained winds of 20-30 miles per hour, along with gusts reaching 55 mph. The wind, in addition to large amounts of predicted snow, are expected to create blizzard conditions for much of the state later on Friday.

"We had a quick department head meeting this morning and we are all well prepared," said the message to Milford residents, "and while this is potentially a very serious event there is frankly not much for us to do until the storm hits."