Flash freeze lands sucker punch

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 1/22/19

By JOHN HOWELL Mathew Solitro was awakened by his cell phone at 10:30 a.m. Monday. Maybe he'd gotten three hours of sleep. He wasn't counting, but the acting director of Public Works was wide awake when it came to questions about the storm that started

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Flash freeze lands sucker punch

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Mathew Solitro was awakened by his cell phone at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

Maybe he’d gotten three hours of sleep. He wasn’t counting, but the acting director of Public Works was wide awake when it came to questions about the storm that started with snow, turned to rain and then sent temperatures plunging to one degree Monday morning.

But it all happened much faster than predicted.

“The weathermen were wrong,” he said, citing forecasts that temperatures would hit the 50s Sunday afternoon and then slide below freezing in the evening hours.

As it turned out, the temperatures didn’t climb into the 50s and they plummeted by 10 to 12 degrees around 3:30 p.m.

“The flash freeze caught everybody by surprise,” he said.

Solitro immediately called back crews he had sent home at 5:30 that morning. Those crews had worked through the night plowing the slushy snow in the rain. Now they were spreading sand and salt and scraping ice where needed.

Solitro stayed in contact with Mayor Joseph Solomon, who started monitoring road conditions and reporting in early Sunday morning. He stayed at it throughout the day, getting home that night.

“I caught the important part of the Patriots game,” he said yesterday.

In addition to Public Works, Solomon was in contact with police and fire. He said there were no serious accidents and if there were power outages they were isolated.

“We knew it was going to be coming,” he said of the dropping temperature, “but it occurred earlier than predicted.”

Solomon noted, however, that the city, state and National Grid were ready for the storm and, fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Solomon called the storm “the first major weather event of the season,” adding that he hopes it is the last.

“He’s definitely hands on,” Solitro said of Solomon.

Solitro said city crews “did a great job…they were quick to respond; I’m happy with the performance.”

As for trash and recycling collections, Solitro said they would proceed as scheduled. The schedule is delayed by a day because of the Monday Martin Luther King holiday.

“We’re open for business,” he said.

Solitro wasn’t sure how he was going to spend his Monday now that roads were clear, treated and sanded. Noting that his biological clock was off kilter, he asked, “Am I hungry for breakfast or is it dinner?”

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