Three in the morning at the Bayway end of town: the refinery's low glow, the Turnpike still moving past Exit 13, and a lot filling faster than the forecast promised. Brancato Snow & Ice Management runs Elizabeth through nights like that — plowing lots and driveways, cutting walkways down to pavement, laying salt ahead of the freeze that always follows a storm. Weather comes up this coast wet and heavy, then stiffens by daybreak into something a shovel cannot argue with. The measure of a night is simple: the first car turns in, and nobody standing there has to think about it. Then the truck moves to the next address while the sky is still deciding to be light.