Alle-Kiski Valley residents are ready to weather the storm

Frank Smolenak isn’t worried about the impending storm that is expected to dump 6 to 8 inches of snow on the Pittsburgh area over the weekend.

But he and his wife, Laura, have taken precautions regardless.

The two spent $300 on groceries Thursday and then stopped by Community Supermarket in Lower Burrell to get eggs and pasta sauce on Friday. The Lower Burrell couple also planned to check for leaks around the windows in their home, and keep their pathways clear so they don’t slip and fall.

“Everybody hits the panic button, but the weather’s changing everyday,” Frank Smolenak, 67, said. “You try to think ahead and be prepared.”

Community Supermarket’s Lower Burrell store has seen a steady stream of customers since Wednesday, with people stocking up on toilet paper, bread, canned goods, rock salt, and, surprisingly, ice cream.

“Anytime there’s a snow scare, it peaks up,” manager Chad Patterson said early Friday afternoon. “Thursday was just relentless. Today (Friday) so far’s been pretty crazy.

“We expect more of the same tomorrow up until when the snow starts.”

A winter storm warning is in effect from 10 a.m. Saturday until 10 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Despite the rush, Patterson said the store hadn’t sold out of anything as of Friday afternoon. He said customers have told employees the reason they’re shopping there is because other places have run out of certain items.

“We’ve had sufficient supply on the main hitters — the white bread, the rock salt, the toilet paper,” Patterson said. “We’ve had to up our milk orders … but we haven’t run out.”

Jaclyn Kostelansky, a store manager at Sprankles Neighborhood Market in Leechburg, said the store has ordered more of the essentials — milk, bread, toilet paper — to prepare for the winter storm.

She said Thursday that there had been a steady stream of people stocking up “pretty much since we opened at 8 (a.m.).”

“We’ll probably make about $3,000 more than usual on a day that’s calling for snow,” Kostelansky said.

Sally Jones went to Golden Dawn Supermarket in New Kensington on Friday to buy groceries for both her and her mother, who lives in New Kensington.

Jones said the shopping trip was part routine and part storm prep because she takes care of her mother, who is handicapped.

“If it snows too much, I’ll never be able to get over to her,” Jones said. “I got to make sure she’s got all her supplies.”

Latoyia Graves also was at Golden Dawn on Friday specifically to get rock salt. She bought all of the food she and her children would need, such as milk, bread, cereal, and baby milk on Wednesday and Thursday.

She hopes the storm doesn’t last long.

“The only bad thing is it’s the weekend, so if it does come, hopefully they can get out and clean the roads,” Graves, 35, said.

Madasyn Czebiniak is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Madasyn at 724-226-4702, mczebiniak@tribweb.com, or via Twitter @maddyczebstrib. Staff writer Dillon Carr contributed.