Gloria Platt paused to catch her breath, and can you blame her?

The 65-year-old East Marion Street resident had just finished shoveling a large mound of this weekend's leftover snow from her boss' driveway Monday — three weeks after suffering a mini-stroke.

"This is not easy," she said, stopping to lean on her trusty metal shovel to speak with a reporter. "What happened to all those kids who used to want to earn some money? Sitting in front of their computers, that's where."

Platt, understandably, was in no mood to hear this news: Another potential whopper of a storm is on its way today.

"Don't even tell me about it," Platt said. "I can't keep up with it."

Forecasters say an Arctic Clipper will blanket the county with a fresh 6 to 12 inches by Wednesday. The snow will begin this afternoon.

VIDEO: AccuWeather Forecast

It would be the third major snowstorm of the season and second in three days. The weekend storm dumped 26 inches of snow in parts of southern Lancaster County, 20 inches in the city and 16 to 18 inches in northern parts of the county.

Unlike the weekend storm, however, this one is expected to pack sustained winds of between 20 mph and 40 mph, hampering visibility on the roads and creating the potential for severe drifting and power outages.

Meteorologists are keeping a close watch on what the storm does once it reaches the Atlantic because it has the potential to explode into an even stronger system than the the storm this past weekend.

"This one has a better chance of producing some bona fide blizzard conditions," said Millersville University meteorologist Eric Horst. He said it's possible the story could drop as much as 18 inches of snow on the county.

A blizzard is three hours or more of snowfall combined with sustained winds of at least 35 mph.

"If the storms hugs the coast, we get the wind, and this will be the more severe storm in terms of drifting and power outages," he said. "But not a flake has fallen yet. We're talking potential."

PennDOT is already warning drivers that high winds are expected to accompany the latest storm, creating the potential for near-zero-visibility and major drifting.

"The reality is that motorists who must travel Tuesday night and during the day on Wednesday will face conditions possibly worse than those seen over the weekend due to the strong, gusty winds currently forecast," said Scott Christie, PennDOT's deputy secretary for highway administration.

The storm poses a particular problem in Lancaster city, where the sides of streets are already piled high with snow from the weekend.

To make room for the new snow, contractors were called in Monday afternoon to begin the arduous task of hauling the weekend snow to the water treatment plant off East Walnut Street.

"You can't pile it on top of the existing piles we created on the weekend or it's going to come right back down on the street or, worse, the sidewalk," said Charlotte Katzenmoyer, director of the city's public works department.

The contractors, which started at Penn Square and branched out, are costing the city an estimated $10,000 to $20,000, Mayor Rick Gray said.

"The reason we're doing it that way is that if there is another 8 inches or 10 inches of snow, we have to have places to push it," he said. "PennDOT trucks can blow down Route 283 at 45 mph and throw this stuff way off the road.

"If we came blowing down Queen Street, we'd be breaking windows and damaging cars," Gray said. "We have no where to go with it."

The contractors used front-end loaders to lift piles of snow into large trucks, which then hauled and dumped them near the treatment plant.

The hiring of contractors allowed city crews to focus on plowing alleys and side streets that were still snow-covered from the weekend storm.

The Lancaster County Emergency Management Agency issued a reminder Monday for residents who live in homes with flat roofs to make sure there's no ice or snow buildup.

"Going back to the 1990s, when we had several snow events, building collapses did occur in the county and are something we don't want to forget about," said Randy Gockley, the agency's coordinator. "It is something to be concerned about."

The agency recommends residents clear snow from flat roofs before today's storm or hire a contractor to do it for them. And if you hear creaking sounds or suspect roof damage from the weight of snow, evacuate the building immediately.

The storm expected to hit the county today is notable for several reasons.

If it drops at least 12 inches of snow, it would be the first time in recorded history that three storms of such magnitude hit Lancaster in the same winter season. We've already had two: the one this past weekend, and the Dec. 19 Nor'easter that dumped 8 to 21 inches across the county.

It's only the fourth time in 80 years we've had two foot-deep storms in the same season.

A light snow is expected to begin this afternoon, bringing 2 to 6 inches by the end of the evening. As moisture from the Atlantic is channeled back inland, the storm could drop another 4 to 6 inches Wednesday.

Regardless of how much this storm brings, the county has already been hit this winter with twice its average snowfall. So far there's been 49.2 inches of snow; the average here is about 26 inches.

During a brisk walk around the city Monday, news of the looming storm was greeted with a mixture of scorn and good cheer.

But mostly scorn.

Francisco Melendez was an exception. The 63-year-old North Mary Street man, clearing the parking space in front of his home for a third straight day, laughed at the prospect of having to shovel again tonight and Wednesday.

"It doesn't bother me," he said. "I do 500 push-ups a day. Then the punching bag. Weights. Every morning."

Bring it on, Melendez seemed to say.

Paul Maz, of the 100 block of North Mary Street, kept an optimistic outlook on the prospects of more snow while chipping away the weekend's leftover ice outside his front door Monday.

"Sure, why not? It's short-lived. It's a lot of work," he laughed. "But you have to look at life optimistically, even though I don't do it all the time."

tmurse@lnpnews.com