(ABC 6 News) – A winter storm is on its way once again which means cities, counties, and state officials are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

In the Med City, the snow plows are gassing up, gearing up, and salting up.

“Based on what we’re seeing, we’re preparing for heavy snow,” said Dan Plizga, street maintenance manager for Rochester Public Works. “That’ll mean that all of our 45 pieces of equipment will be out on the street.”

The public works department is expecting to have plows on the roads all day, as the snow is set to begin mid to late morning Tuesday, peaking the mid afternoon.

To help keep things moving, the city is also temporarily re-upping the alternate side parking ordinance.

They aren’t actually enforcing it, but are asking residents to abide by the ordinance to allow the plows and salt trucks room to maneuver.

“The more that residents follow it, the quicker we can get in and do our job,” Plizga said. “You know, we’re gonna get it done one way or another, it’s just how fast we can get to all the streets.”

Mason City is also putting their alternate side parking into effect starting 7:00 P.M. Tuesday night and going until further notice.

Other areas are preparing for the worst.

Our last winter storm just a couple weeks ago was bad enough for Freeborn County to call in the National Guard.

With another storm on the horizon, the county is expecting to do it again, and is expediting the process ahead of time.

“(We’re) getting in contact with our local national guardsmen,” said Freeborn County Sheriff Ryan Shea. “And we start to make shelter plans with public health so that in the event we want to open up the shelter it’s not a scramble to try and get it lined up at the time.”

The Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office will be posting regular updates to its Facebook page.

Regardless of where you are, road safety is of utmost importance.

Especially since many of us aren’t used to it anymore.

“We haven’t really had winter for the last couple years so people have just kind of gotten out of the tendencies of reducing speed,” said Minnesota State Patrol Sgt. Troy Christianson. “So make sure you’re driving a speed that’s safe for the conditions and allow extra travel time.”

For information on road closures, you can check 511mn.org.