Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport is preparing for Friday’s expected winter weather – whatever it may be.

Friday’s forecast from the National Weather Service calls for winter weather affecting the northern and central portions of Alabama late tonight through Friday evening.

Forecasters say the greatest impact should be near and north of Interstate 20. Snow, freezing rain, a wintery mix and black ice are concerns through Saturday morning.

Airport spokeswoman Kim Hunt said officials there are “prepping for all the different scenarios.”

As the weather forecast for Friday becomes more specific today, workers will begin pretreating runways and taxiways with an agent to help prevent icing.

“We will also pretreat the roadways leading up to the terminal, the top floor of the parking deck, exposed ramps, even the crosswalks,” Hunt said. “As the forecast gets more specific today, that will dictate the timing of our pre-treatment. Particularly with the runways and taxiways – we don’t want to do the pre-treatment too early since aircraft operating tonight could essentially degrade it.”

In addition, the airport operations team will inspect conditions throughout the night and early morning. Snow removal equipment is ready to go, but officials believe the greatest area of concern will be ice forming, or freezing rain.

Hunt said travelers should keep in mind that the winter weather could cause delays in both getting to the airport and for scheduled flights.

“Our best advice is to stay in touch with your airline and check the status of your flights early and often,” she said.

More information is available at the airport website.

Huntsville Airport plans to stay open despite the storm, officials there said.