This week's arrival of blustering wind, freezing temperatures and accumulating snow is uncomfortable and inconvenient to some Butler County folks. Others have waited for it all year.

But the effects of such a wintry blast — positive or positively unbearable — go to a whole other level for people who make a living or volunteer their efforts in the great outdoors.

“While everyone else is clearing off one or two cars in the morning, I'm clearing about 300,” said Rich Kelly of Butler.

Kelly, 27, has been brushing snow from the hoods of vehicles for sale at the Kelly automotive dealership in Butler Township “ever since I could push a snow broom.”

Granted, he said, when the work day starts, uncovering the entire lot of cars and trucks for potential buyers to see can seem like a daunting task. “But everyone pitches in and it goes quickly,” said Kelly, also a salesman at the dealership.

The workers use a special broom that will not chip or scratch the vehicles' paint. They put a focused effort on the 120 or so cars in the front lot, then later work their way through another 300 or so in the back. Then, they start all over.

“This time of the year, it's like painting the Golden Gate Bridge,” he said. “Just when you finish, you start all over again.”

Chris Dunn of Kittanning said the best way to stay warm when you work outside is to dress in layers.

Dunn, a welder for T.W. Phillips Gas and Oil, who was with a crew on North Duffy Road Tuesday, said workers also are required to wear fireproof coveralls, which add another layer to their outfits.

Bill Bennett, manager of Kwikfill on Main Street in Evans City, agreed with the idea of wearing layers of clothing.

Bennett said he can't tell if business increases at his full-service gas station on very cold days.

“It's always busy here,” said Bennett.

He said cars can be found at the pumps as soon as the station opens at 6 a.m. Bennett said he comes in an hour early on snowy days to ensure the plow service has been there.

“If not, I'm pushing a shovel,” said Bennett.

Kelly Schaffer pumps gas for patrons of Terek's Service Station in Middlesex Township.

On Tuesday, Schaffer bundled up in two shirts, a sweat shirt, jeans, coat and scarf for her job, which began at 5:30 a.m. Schaffer said the key to surviving her job on a windswept hill in Cooperstown is expediency.

“You're not out there that long.”

For some people, the wintry weather makes for a delightful workplace.

“I love snow. I love the winter. I love it all,” said Theresa Clendenning, 45, of Butler.

For three, one-hour shifts, Clendenning mans the corner of West Penn and Washington streets as a crossing guard for Butler School District. To ready herself for colder days, she doubles just about everything she wears, from her socks to her hats.

“And turtle necks are pulled all the way up,” she said. “No rolling them down.”

Dave Denk barely noticed the snow flakes pounding down around him as he fashioned holly, Douglas and Frazer fir into door and window wreaths. The sole employee at the Golden Apple Christmas tree sales stand on New Castle Road in Butler Township Tuesday morning, Denk said he doesn't mind working in the freezing temps for hours.

“No. I love it,” said Denk, 28, of Butler. “I'm just naturally hot. During the summer I'm miserable.”

Denk said there is a building that he and co-workers can take shelter in, but he's hesitant to go there.

“If a customer pulls up and doesn't see you, they might drive away,” he said.

Denk, who once worked unloading trucks into freezer rooms, said, “I barely notice” the wind and snow.

He said he'd worn “only two layers of clothes” and had a metal burn barrel smoldering heat on the lot.

“But that's mainly for customers,” he said, then noted he hadn't had a single customer as of noon. “It's just us crazy people who love the winter out here right now.”

In addition to snow-lovers, standing outside this week were those the community relies on, including U.S. Postal Workers, firefighters and police.

Tom Green, for example, has been delivering the mail for 22 years.

“Lots of layers,” he says of his wintertime runs, which often are bulkier than usual due to the upcoming holiday. “Hats, gloves, hand-warmers ... whatever it takes.”

Green of Summit Township said over the course of the years, he's been offered a cup of hot chocolate or two by his customers. But he always declines.

“The trick is to keep moving. You deal with it as best you can because it's all a part of the job,” he said. “I'd still rather have this weather than 90 degree weather.”

For firefighters, winter can create multiple difficulties.

“The bitter cold, obviously is the key thing, trying to keep warm,” said Chief Keven Kelly of the Mercer Road Volunteer Fire Company. “There is no difference in the gear type that you are wearing (in winter). You're just wearing more clothing underneath it. It's bulky already, and that makes it more bulky.”

Once the department is dressed to respond, ice and snow on roads and sidewalks further complicate matters.

Kelly said most departments have trucks with automatic tire chains, while others will put chains on the truck tires manually in advance of a storm.

Then, there is the concern that water freezes.

Kelly said pump trucks have a recirculation valve that keeps water moving inside the engine so it does not freeze.

He also said it is important for residents to keep fire hydrants near their homes clear of snow so firefighters can more quickly connect hoses to them.

Police, also tasked with ensuring the public's safety, have to look out for their own in cold weather, especially during accident scenes.

“The officers have the latest in cold weather gear, from Under Armor-type stuff (thermal underwear) to high-tech boots made for the cold,” said Butler city Police Chief Tim Fennell.

He said the department's vehicles need extra maintenance during winter weather, too, and use more fuel.

“Like everyone else, the weather is hard on our vehicles,” Fennell said. “We have a few four-wheel drive vehicles we have bought specifically for the purpose of getting up the hills here.”

In Zelienople, weather played a role in a power outage.

Members of the borough's police department and fire police were scheduled to direct traffic Tuesday morning because of a planned power outage. Penn Power was to perform maintenance to one of their Zelienople feeder lines. The outages were scheduled for Tuesday and today, but were canceled by Penn Power Tuesday morning, borough manager Don Pepe said.

He was unsure when Penn Power's maintenance work would be rescheduled, but said it would likely occur after the Christmas holiday.

Eagle staff writers Kim Paskorz, Ed Biller, John Bojarski, Paula Grubbs and Bob Schultz contributed to this report

.