ASHLAND — A combination of single-digit temperatures, high winds, and precipitation will likely descend on northern Ohio later this week, and Ashland’s Streets Department is getting ready.

The department is fully staffed, all its trucks are working, and it’s sitting on 4,200 tons of salt remaining from last year, City Services Director Jason Counts said.

Every day this week, employees will meet to go over the latest forecast and make sure their trucks and equipment are ready to face Winter Storm Elliot.

The department’s 12 trucks will likely be loaded up Thursday night to get ahead of Friday morning’s flash freeze when temperatures will drop from the mid-30s to single digits, quickly freezing any precipitation on the roads.

“If we don’t have the roads treated, if there is not salt on that, they may be impassable for us to even drive our trucks on. So we’ve got to be ready,” Counts said.

Once the trucks are out, road crews will prioritize Ashland’s main arteries like Main Street, Cottage Street, Claremont Avenue, Center Street, and other state routes, Counts added.

For anyone that may need to drive on Thursday or Friday, Counts has simple advice.

“Watch the weather,” he said.