It took what seemed forever for the first storm of the winter of 2015-’16 to hit North Haven this year, but when it finally did the town’s Public Works crew was well equipped to handle it.

The ice/snow mix fell overnight into the early morning hours of Dec. 29. The timing of the storm, according to Director of Public Works Field Operations Victor Palma, was actually a blessing.

“The storm hit in the early morning hours when the roads are clear,” said Palma. “It is much harder to handle a storm when it hits, say, 4 in the afternoon when the roads are jammed with cars.”

Another thing that helped make clearing the first storm of the year from North Haven’s road easier, Palma added, was that it was a school vacation week.

“Not having to worry about clearing the road for school buses does help,” said Palma.

The coating of ice and snow that fell on North Haven to about one inch, but quickly disappeared due to temperatures rising above freezing once the sun came up. That, combined with a steady rainfall that fell in the aftermath, made the first storm of the year a memory within a few hours of it appearing.

The public works crew in North Haven hit the streets for the first time in the unseasonably warm (so far) winter, early in the morning, using snowplows to clear North Haven roads.

“We did our normal procedure for this type of storm,” said Palma. “We de-iced the roads first, then had the plows ready for the little bit of snow that came after. All in all, things went very well.”