Photo by Mike Kandel.

Updated to reflect that both snowball fights have been moved to Sunday.

Alex Gonzalez wasted no time in launching the call: “Form your alliances and plan your attack. First shot will be at noon.”

Although the specifics of exactly how much and when are still flurrying about, meteorologists agree that we’re in for a major storm starting on Friday. And D.C.’s merrymakers are already making plans.

“We’re going to be out there celebrating our newfound quasi-freedom to sled,” says Tim Krepp, one of the neighborhood activists who led the charge up (and down) the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol last year. “We’re looking forward to it—weather dependent, obviously—either on Saturday or Sunday.”

Krepp and his family were among the residents who took part in a sled-in last winter to protest the restriction against “coasting or sliding a sled within Capitol Grounds.” Their lighthearted act of civil disobedience worked. A few months later, Congress passed a provision in an appropriations bill that reversed the ban (it was extended this year).

“There probably won’t be the same media circus, and that is a good thing,” Krepp says. “This is just something we do. We can kind of resume that normalcy, which is a victory.”

Meanwhile, a few hundred people have also expressed interest in heading over to Malcolm X Park on Saturday Sunday afternoon to join Gonzalez in pelting his neighbors with packed orbs, in loosely organized fashion (the event has been moved from Saturday to Sunday due to the forecast).

Gonzalez is among the Washingtonians who have taken part in the massive fights each year put on by the aptly named Washington D.C. Snowball Fight Association. The “organization” was founded on December 19 (better known as the beginning of Snowmaggedon), “when half a dozen friends answered the call to arms for the first ‘Official Dupont Circle Snowball Fight,'” according to their Facebook page. Since then, they’ve regularly held large-scale battles when the winter weather cooperated (or didn’t, depending on how you feel about the snow).

“Last year they had it at Meridian Hill for one of the snowfalls and I loved it there,” Gonzalez says. With rumors swirling that DCSFA would be hosting their first event of the season at Dupont, he decided to to get the (snow)ball rolling on an alternative event at the Columbia Heights park.

“The more the merrier,” says Michael Lipin, one of the trio that has run DCSFA for the past six years. “We don’t have a monopoly on snowball fights.”

Lipin confirmed that they will indeed host their first event of the season at Dupont. “That’s our home base,” he says. “The first big snowball fight that we organized six years ago was in Dupont that had 2,000 or 3,000 people showing up. It’s a great space, the center of so much fun activity.” They plan to launch an official invitation on their Facebook page later today after taking a look at more detailed snowfall predictions. They have called the fight for noon 10 a.m. on Sunday—and are encouraging people to come in Star Wars costume (it’s been dubbed SNOW WARS: THE SNOWBALL STRIKES BACK!)

“It is unusual for us to put an event up three days before,” Lipin said. “In the past it has been a day’s notice, but this isn’t a typical storm.” With meteorologists only disagreeing on the amount that will fall, it’s unlikely that there will be a repeat of 2013’s cancellation. Lipin says they also may plan a second event for Sunday.

The group has also teamed up with Serve DC, the mayor’s office on volunteerism, to encourage would-be snowball launchers to lend a hand to their neighbors and help shovel them out.

Mayor Muriel Bowser announced earlier today that 2,000 people have volunteered so far for the D.C. Resident Snow Team, which helps clear walkways for elderly and disabled residents. Under D.C. law, property owners are required to keep their sidewalks clear of snow within eight hours of daylight after the snow stops.

Hardware store employees say they’ve seen a huge influx of people seeking supplies. Annie’s Ace Hardware in Petworth and Frager’s have already run out of snow shovels, but they are both expecting another shipment tomorrow.

Amid the frenzied preparations, there are those who are joyfully awaiting the season’s first major snowfall.

“I love the absurdity of the snow in D.C.,” Krepp says. “We don’t get that much of it. So let’s have a carnival atmosphere when we do.”