Lancaster County braced to be buried on Friday.

Heeding the weather forecast for a foot or more of snow, residents and officials prepared in various ways.

VIDEO: AccuWeather Forecast

• From the time it opened at 9 a.m., people were taking movies off the shelves at Lititz Public Library.

"We have thousands of DVDs, and our shelves are nearly naked," Bonnie Boulton, a circulation clerk at the library, said. "It's bread, milk and movies," she said of the basic provisions.

• At the Giant Food store at Lancaster Shopping Center, bread and milk were the orders of the day.

"It's been crazy," said Casey Walton, a customer service representative at the store. She said it had been busy all day.

• At the state Wine & Spirits store in Hawthorne Square in Manheim Township, the rush began Thursday.

The store, which would have been busy anyway on this Super Bowl weekend, was even busier, a manager said. "Today's been gangbusters."

She didn't have a wine to recommend with snow. "It depends on the person," she said. "Wine, vodka, a little of everything" was selling, she said.

• At Millersville Fire Hall, six to eight firefighters were "bunking-in" Friday night so they would be ready for whatever calls come their way.

"It makes it easier than having to wake up and clear cars off. It gets us out the door faster," fire company Lt. Chris Delong said.

He said firefighters were putting chains on the fire apparatus, then likely would hang around and watch movies until the alarm sounded.

• At Lancaster Airport, it was quieter than usual. Late Friday morning, Cape Air canceled all flights out of Lancaster until noon Sunday. The airline usually has five flights daily from the airport.

• At Lancaster General Hospital, officials activated their HEET plan, or Hospital Employee Emergency Transport Program.

Volunteers and other hospital employees with four-wheel-drive vehicles are called into service to bring employees into the North Duke Street facility. About 25 employees scheduled to work today opted to come in early and stay the night, LGH spokesman John Lines said.

• At the county's 911 Communications Center in Manheim, cots were being made available to ensure dispatchers were there.

Dispatchers remained busy during the storm. Between 7:15 and 8:15 p.m. — during one of the periods of heavy snowfall — more than 14 vehicle accidents were reported.

• At Lancaster City Hall, Mayor Rick Gray issued a snow emergency beginning at 9 p.m. Friday. The order mandates motorists to move any vehicles parked along the city's snow emergency routes.

Those routes — comprising most of the city's main thoroughfares — must remain open for plowing. Towing of unmoved cars will begin at 8 a.m. today and continue until the snow emergency is lifted.

Free parking is available in the city's Water Street, Duke Street, East King Street and Prince Street parking garages until midnight Sunday.

Manheim, Denver, Ephrata and Mount Joy boroughs and Pequea Township also issued snow emergencies for the duration of the storm.

• On the roads of Lancaster County, 52 PennDOT drivers and seven contracted trucks spread salt or a mixture of salt and chipped stones.

"They salt until it becomes plowable," PennDOT spokeswoman Fritzi Schreffler said Friday night.

PennDOT imposed mandatory overtime, and there will be drivers spreading and plowing throughout the storm, Schreffler said.

PennDOT also announced that it had temporarily lowered the speed limit on many of the region's highways, including Route 283, to 45 mph until the storm ends.

• At Lancaster County Convention Center, the exhibition hall was quiet. The Keystone Classic cheerleading and dance competition that was expected to bring 1,200 cheerleaders to the center this weekend was postponed.

The event was among dozens of sporting and other events canceled or rescheduled because of the storm. One of those, a wrestling tournament at Conestoga Valley, had been rescheduled from Dec. 19, when the county had its last major snowstorm.

• At many of the county's schools on Friday, including Conestoga Valley, students were sent home early in anticipation of the storm.

The first flakes began falling in Lancaster city just before 3 p.m., but snowfall remained light until evening.

Eric Horst, Millersville University meteorologist, on Friday night held by his prediction of 10 to 18 inches of snow falling in the county before the storm ends this afternoon.

Horst predicted heavier snowfall — 18 to 24 inches — falling along an east-west band just south of the state line.

In Washington, D.C., where snow began falling earlier Friday, that city was bracing for a rare 28-inch snow. That would be the largest storm there in nearly 90 years. Newspaper headlines were already calling it "snowpocalypse" and "snowmageddon."

Randy Gockley, director of the county Emergency Management Agency, was thankful the storm arrived when it did.

"The fact that it is occurring on a weekend is very helpful," Gockley said. He advised people to relax "and enjoy the weekend at home."

bharris@lnpnews.com