GETTING READY — Staff with the West Virginia Division of Highways scoop road salt from a large storage facility at its Wellsburg garage. Many state and local road crews were preparing Friday for heavy snowfall predicted by the National Weather Service. -- Warren Scott

State and local transportation and emergency officials are encouraging area residents to avoid travel and take other precautions as a cold front bringing heavy snow and subzero temperatures is poised to enter the Tri-State Area.

Andrew Kienzle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh Office in Moon Township, said the region could receive between 9 inches and 14 inches of snow this weekend.

The prediction is tied to a cold front making its way northeast from the Gulf Coast that the agency has been tracking through the week.

The snowfall is expected to begin late Saturday and continue through the night, with the heaviest anticipated on Sunday between the morning and evening.

But Kienzle said there’s plenty to concern residents as they enter this weekend, with the wind chill factor producing air that feels between 0 to 10 degrees below 0.

“While it will be dry, it will be bitterly cold,” he said.

Kienzle said the temperature is expected to rise into the 20s at the peak of Sunday’s snowstorm.

But he noted the wind chill still will prevail and could cause the snow to become densely packed, making it harder to plow or shovel, and produce an icy surface.

Kienzle said the snow is expected to continue on Monday morning and possibly into the afternoon, though just about a half-inch of additional accumulation is expected.

A high temperature of 20 degrees has been projected for Monday, but the wind chill factor will make it feel like 5 to 10 degrees, said Kienzle, “so keep the heavy jacket and boots by the door.”

Kienzle said more snow is not expected after Monday until Thursday, but it’s not expected to rise to the level predicted for this weekend.

Governors urge caution

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was blunt when discussing the storm during a Friday media briefing: “My main advice to everyone is to stay home if you can. By staying home, you and your family will be in the safest place to ride out the storm.”

At a press conference Friday, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said, “While the forecasts may change, we want to make sure we are prepared to work together to keep our people safe.”

Morrisey said state agencies, local emergency managers, public safety officials, utilities, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Weather Service and the federal Department of Homeland Security have been in close communication all week.

He added non-governmental, volunteer and community organizations met Friday to discuss readiness related to food banks, shelters and crisis response plans and the state’s emergency response center will be activated if needed.

ODOT, WVDoH ready

Lauren Borell, public information officer for the Ohio Department of Transportation, said, “We will be fully staffed this weekend with drivers and mechanics to take on this storm. We anticipate this storm will bring many challenges not only with the snowfall amounts but with the temperatures dropping along with it.”

“Due to the dropping temperatures, our salt becomes less effective, which makes it challenging for our folks to clear the roads. However, we will utilize liquid de-icers, including beet heat and brine to combat the colder temps,” said Borell.

She added blowing and drifting snow may create more challenges by lengthening the duration of roads being covered.

Borell urged everyone to avoid unnecessary travel, especially on Sunday, when the snow is expected to be heaviest.

Borell added information on road conditions can be found at OHGO.com.

Officials with the West Virginia Division of Highways have announced, “Salt supplies are stockpiled in all 55 counties in preparation for this weekend’s expected snowstorm, and crews have readied snowplows.”

They said about 1,000 snowplows will be available statewide, and crews will pre-treat roads before snowfall when possible, to make it harder for snow to stick.

The department is urging drivers to stay off the roads this weekend unless travel is absolutely necessary to allow state road crews time and space to do their jobs.

Emergency management prepared

Greg Moore, director of the Brooke County Emergency Management Agency, said warming shelters will be set up if they are needed and those without heat may call (304) 737-5002 and leave a message.

Moore said arrangements have been made to use the Follansbee Community House, Wellsburg Fire Hall and Bethany Community Center if needed.

In the past, when power outages have occurred, accommodations have been made for residents with medication that must be refrigerated.

Moore asks residents to be watchful of neighbors who are older or disabled.

And he strongly encourages residents not to drive if possible and to watch from state advisories prohibiting them from doing so.

Jeremy Ober, director of the Hancock County Emergency Management Agency, noted his office has been in contact with the National Weather Service in an effort to prepare for the storm.

“We’re keeping a close eye,” Ober said. “Models are fairly confident this will be a significant snow maker.”

He encouraged residents to stay home unless it was absolutely necessary.

Ober is among officials in Hancock County, including leaders of local fire departments, to discuss responses to any issues that arise from the storm.

The agency noted a warming shelter has been established at Weirton Millsop Community Center, and those without power and needing to refrigerate their medications may call (304) 564-4040 for information.

Cities prepared

Steubenville City Manager Jim Mavromatis figures it’s not a question of “if” the storm hits the valley, “the question really is how much.”

“But our trucks are loaded and ready to go, our workers are on stand-by,” he said. “It’s going to be a 24-hour operation — once it starts, trucks will be out pre-treating streets with salt.”

Mavromatis is encouraging residents to park in their driveways or their building’s parking lot so the snowplows and salt trucks can get through and do their job.

Officials in Wintersville and Mingo Junction have asked residents there to do the same thing.

The big thing is keeping vehicles off the road — it gives us a chance to get the snow off the road,” Mavromatis said. “The real clearing starts when the snow stops — until then, you can run a snowplow down the road and 20 minutes later it will be covered.”

Mavromatis said police and firefighters will be out, “working through all of this, but it may take them longer to get to a call.” He’s advising city residents who have shopping to do to get it done by Saturday. “If you don’t have to go out, stay home — give our trucks the clearance they need to work on the roads. I’ve been following the reports, they still show we’re going to get snow — the question is how accurate the predictions will be. People just have to give our trucks time to get out and clear the roads. Don’t go out unless you have to.”

He said it will be “all hands on deck.”

“Our priorities are getting our main arteries open, and, clearly getting access to the hospital,” Mavromatis said.

In Steubenville, there will be no garbage pickup for customers normally served on Monday, with those routes to be collected on Tuesday. Collection will run one day later for the rest of the week.

In Mingo Junction, the garbage pickup slated for Tuesday has been moved to Feb. 3.

Residents of other areas also should be prepared for their garbage pickups to be postponed.

Weirton City Manager Mike Adams asked residents to be patient, noting Public Works crews will be working throughout the storm in an effort to plow and salt roadways.

He explained the focus is going to be on major routes first to provide clear paths in the event emergency responders are needed.

“We’re just going to take it a step at a time,” he said.

Adams said the city has been stocking up on supplies in anticipation of the snow.

“We’ve got salt on order,” he said, while noting, “We’ve got a decent amount in the bins.”

Friendship Room prepared

Molly McGovern of the Friendship Room said her trained volunteers were already busy, preparing to welcome those in the community who need shelter from the extreme weather.

McGovern said Friendship Room is “a place for anybody to come and get out of the cold.”

Once there, she said the volunteers “connect our guests with local resources and meet their immediate needs while connecting with other local resources.”

She said they also provide them with food donated by businesses and individuals, with such donations also keeping its doors open and lights on.

McGovern said, “We have volunteers out rounding up homeless people. If we know where they are, we go out looking for them, encouraging them to come in and get warm. We’ll continue to do that the next few nights. A lot of times people who have problems with drugs and alcohol are unaware of the severity of the weather. And a lot of times, people with mental illnesses don’t comprehend that cold temperatures are very dangerous.”

The volunteers have also been setting up a snack and coffee bar for the walk-ins.

“We’ll be open 24 hours a day, at least through this extreme cold forecast through the end of January,” she said. “This is why we started in January 2014, it’s why we started the Friendship Room — because of the extreme cold weather. We’ve really just come full circle.”

(Warren Scott, Linda Harris and Craig Howell contributed to this report)