Brace yourself! More nasty winter weather on today’s menu

A wintery mix of snow and rain is expected to hit the North Shore early today.Meteorologist William Babcock of the National Weather Service of Southern New England said the North Shore and much of Eastern Massachusetts will see less snow than other parts of the state.”Specifically in Lynn, the storm will come in two phases,” he said. “First thing in the morning during the rush hours, there will be a burst of snow, and late morning or early afternoon, it will change to rain.”Residents shouldn’t expect to see more than an inch of snow before the snow changes to rain and it’s unlikely there will be much freezing, he said.”Temperatures will be warming up while the precipitation changes from snow to rain and there will be nothing to refreeze it because of warm surface temperatures in the mid-30s,” he said. “Ice is more of a concern for Southern New Hampshire and points west of Boston, like Worcester.”Saugus Public Works Director Joseph Attubato said he is concerned about the possible pending storm, but he admitted that they’re doing little to prepare for it.”We’re playing it by ear,” he said. “We’re concerned, but that last storm really kind of tired us out.”Likewise, Gino Cresta, the Superintendent of the Swampscott DPW, said that the town’s workers were off for the holiday,”We’ll be in early tomorrow (today) to deal with the situation,” he said.David Graves of National Grid said there will be a full crew working on the North Shore, but they are not overly worried about the weather here.”We monitor the forecast four times a day and, as of now, the North Shore should expect a couple inches of snow and rain, but we are not expecting any damaging weather,” said Graves.More than 80,000 National Grid customers lost power in last week’s storm, but power was restored to everyone by the following day.The National Weather Service is warning that travel in Western Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire will be hazardous in the morning and will worsen in the afternoon as ice accumulates.