Norwalk Department of Public Works crews prepared for the season's latest snowstorm Tuesday, loading trucks and readying plows on a large scale despite a relatively small snow total in the forecast.

Officials said the department may go through more salt this time than during the storm two weeks ago, which dumped more than a foot of snow. That's because meteorologists are predicting just 2 to 4 inches in most areas, which means more drivers are likely to use the roads.

More cars mean more melting and more re-freezing, making smaller storms busy for crews who have to continuously salt the roads to keep them from icing over.

Norwalk alone will use dozens of trucks.

"We'll probably send out 26 overnight, in between, say, 1 and 7 in the morning," said Chris Torre, a DPW official. "And then, through the day tomorrow, we'll probably have 35 or 36 trucks on the road."

Because the smaller snowfalls require so much road treatment, Norwalk has ordered three salt shipments so far this year -- compared to just one a year ago.

Hardware stores are preparing as well. 

Sal Migliorelli, a manager at Ring's End Building Supply, says residents can get away with cheaper rock salt for this storm.

"In the last storm, because we had a lot of freezing cold, a lot of calcium chloride went out," Migliorelli says. That's because calcium chloride melts ice in lower temperatures. 

Rock salt will work fine in this storm, with its milder temperatures, he says.