SCOTT TOWNSHIP -- It's a little hard to think about snow and ice after the heat we've had around here this week but dozens of townships, cities, and boroughs were preparing for winter Thursday.
A business in Lackawanna County welcomed all of them to see the new equipment and technology available to keep the roads clear.
For city, borough, and township road crews, the place was full of toys and Powell's Sales and Service in Scott Township welcomed them all to check out all the goods.
"It's mind boggling, really. It's a lot of money."
Municipal road departments would love to have a big budget as they look over all the plows and other snow removal equipment. Dealing with winter has become advanced science, with a lot of technology.
"It's so modern, the technique they have today. It's really simple to go out and plow the roads, in our township anyway," said Jim Sprout of Beaver Township.
"Pretty much every year, companies are coming out with new stuff," said owner Ken Powell."
Powell holds the open house every year to show off what's new. He knows communities have limited funds. He says much of the equipment available now have many uses.
"A lot of stuff that you see here is not just for snow plowing. They need it for year round use. A lot of this stuff is helping that out."
This day at Powell's is hands-on, with chances to give some of the equipment a try. We got a few instructions in operating an excavator and played a little heavy equipment basketball.
A lot of the equipment on display could show up on roads and streets in your community soon. Some of the trucks are made right here in Pennsylvania and five of them are going to Wilkes-Barre.
Of course how much they get used depends on the forecast.
Whether it's new-styled plows or new safety lighting, municipalities have lots of options with winter looming.
"We're supposed to have a bad winter this year, one of the coldest one with a lot of snow. It's hard to say what we'll end up with… (but) we'll be ready, buddy!"
Some of the road crews we talked with are actually hoping for a bad winter so they can put all their equipment to work.