Philadelphia has declared a snow emergency. What does that mean?

A snow emergency went into effect in Philadelphia at 7 a.m. ahead of a winter storm that’s expected to drop up to 6 inches of snow on the city.

That means cars and dumpsters parked in snow emergency routes must be moved so snow plows can clear the streets. There are 110 miles of snow emergency routes in Philadelphia, which are marked by signs that read “Snow Emergency Route” in white letters on a red background.

» READ MORE: Snow in Philadelphia: Live updates, timing and latest forecast

A full map of the city’s snow emergency routes can be found here.

Snow emergency routes are plowed first, along with primary and secondary roads. Residential streets will be treated after primary and secondary roads are safe to travel.

If you need to move your car or dumpster out of a snow emergency route, the city suggests parking as far from the corner of the street as possible to avoid getting in the way of turning snowplows.

You can track city plow trucks live using PlowPHL, an interactive map that’s part of the SmartStreetPHL platform.

If your car or dumpster was moved out of a snow emergency route, call 215-686-SNOW (7669), and press option 4, to find it.

Due to the amount of snow expected to fall in the city, sanitation crews and equipments have been diverted to snow operations, the city said.

Trash and recycling collection was already delayed a day due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, so now Friday’s collections scheduled for Saturday have been suspended. Residents can hold their collections until next Friday or drop off trash at the city’s Sanitation Convenience Centers, which are open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.