AccuWeather.com's Long-Range Forecasting Team predicts another brutally cold and snowy winter for a large part of the country, thanks in large part to La Niña...yet again.

Most of that snow is predicted to fall from December into January, making for an active start to the season for New York City and other places along the Interstate 95 corridor and those significant ice or wet snow events can cause major power outages.

The members of Glen Ridge Borough's Public Works crew pride themselves on winter storm clean up and Council President and Public Works Commissioner Art Dawson is proud of their hard work after each storm.

During the hot summer months, the crew has been busy preparing for the winter ahead. Fleet Supervisor Thomas "MacGyver" Allin has been rebuilding the Borough's salt spreaders which serve as the Public Works Department's first line of defense in storm clean up.

Just as snow starts to fall, the spreaders are deployed to coat the entire roadway system with road salt. This prevents a build-up of ice as the snow begins to accumulate. After all the snow is cleared, a second round of salt is applied to keep ice from building up on the roadway.

Tommy is noted for his ability to creatively repair heavy machinery when the original manufacturer's parts are no longer available. This summer, Tommy reconditioned the Borough's circa 1982 stainless steel salt spreader and the department's 2003 steel salt spreader that was expected to last only five years.

Mechanic and amateur Formula Ford race car champion, William Ferdon (simply known as "Ferdon"), has been using his expertise to modify and update the Borough's two large dump trucks (1994 and 1996 GMC Topkicks).

The salt spreaders are mounted on those large single axle trucks and during heavy snow storms the trucks are outfitted with plows as well. Ferdon views battling the winter snow as an endurance race and with a few seasons under his belt, Ferdon has been able to tweak and modify the trucks to react to the demand. Each year he has learned a little more about what parts tend to fail and why. "This year," he says, "the only pit stops our guys will be making are for a driver change, coffee, fuel, and additional salt."