It’s that beautiful time of year: Lights twinkle in windows, a chill bites at your nose, and a miserable mixture of rain and ice falls from the sky, building up in sludgy gray piles on the sidewalk.

D.C. is deploying its snow team Tuesday night for the first time this season, in preparation for a bout of freezing rain expected for the Thursday morning commute.

According to Capital Weather Gang, sleet and freezing rain will likely start before dawn, and should stop around 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. in D.C. and around I-95 as temperatures rise. The worst is expected west of I-95, where the icy precipitation may linger a bit longer into the morning. Across the region, a cold and steady rain is expected to last throughout most of the day, ending between 10 p.m. or 1 a.m. Friday.

Starting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the city will send out snow teams to dump a special mixture of salt, brine, and raw beet juice on streets and sidewalks. This, you might recall, is the iconic “hot mix” the city mixes up that can lower the freezing point of water and prevent the roads from freezing.

The city also opens overnight warming sites in instances of extreme cold. When temperatures drop below freezing, or when cold weather forecasted alongside precipitation, the city issues hypothermia alerts, expanding services for residents seeking shelter. When the temperature is expected to drop below 15 degrees and snow is forecast, a cold weather advisory goes into effect, extending the same services. Mayor Muriel Bowser issued the season’s first cold weather advisory on Tuesday.

Residents can call the shelter hotline, 202-399-7093, to request transportation to a shelter.