The lion’s share of the lake effect snow expected to hit the
area earlier this week touched down further south than
meteorologists originally predicted, leaving the Bradford area with
just a couple of inches of accumulation over Tuesday and
Wednesday.
But don’t get too comfortable.
The more widespread general snow storm coming on its heels -ðset
to start Thursday night and continue this morning -ðis still on
schedule, a meteorologist said. A total accumulation of five inches
expected by tonight.
The original forecasts for six to nine inches of snow as a
result of the latter storm will still hold true for areas just
south of Bradford, according to State College-based National
Weather Service meteorologist Peter Jung.
Although its fairly common to joke about the reliability of the
weather man, Jung said he usually doesn’t get too many complaints
when snow doesn’t come.
“When snow systems come out, there is a limited stripe of snow,
and a little shift early on can throw it off,” Jung said. “When it
comes out of the Tennessee Valley 50 miles off, it ends up a couple
hundred miles off.”
More of the white stuff is expected to come today, though.
“The snow will be developing during the evening and may be heavy
at times before midnight with one to three inches expected by
morning,” he said. “The storm will taper off into lighter snow
showers (Friday afternoon and evening) with a total accumulation of
three to five inches.”
The heavy snow warning issued by the National Weather Service
was canceled Thursday, and replaced with a snow advisory from 7
p.m. Thursday through 11 a.m. today, according to the National
Weather Service Web site.
A snow advisory means that periods of snow will cause travel
difficulties. Motorists should be prepared for snow-covered roads
and limited visibility.
Patricia Shinaberger, maintenance manager with the McKean/Elk
counties branch of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation,
said Thursday she and her crews were expecting four to five inches
of snow starting at about 9 p.m. Thursday. She advised motorists to
“stay back, slow down and let us do our job. Be careful out there,”
she said.
Shinaberger said the snow removal crews have been doing really
well so far this season. While the plow drivers are often more
excited the first couple snows, they get more comfortable as the
winter drags on, she said.
“They’re professional guys and gals who love to plow snow,” she
laughed. “They’re ready.”
Shinaberger said there are 44 operators driving 22 trucks in
McKean County and 32 operators managing 16 vehicles in Elk County.
They all run two shifts a day with their regular hours running from
4 a.m. to noon, and then noon to 8 p.m.
The only real change for PennDOT this winter is those hours, she
said, adding the plow drivers lobbied for the change, saying they
really needed to get out earlier in the day.
Shinaberger said any motorist or resident who experiences
problems with the roads or plow drivers can contact a 24-hour
message line at the local PennDOT office.
With no end to the snowy weather in sight for the near future,
people are also reminded to pay attention to their mail boxes.
During the winter, keeping roads safe and passable often
requires plowing snow to the edge of the shoulder of the road, the
release said. As such, and because most mailboxes are actually in
PennDOT’s legal right-of-way, it is the homeowner’s responsibility
to make sure their mailbox can hold up to the weight of snow being
thrown off by the passing plows.
PennDOT offers the following tips to prevent damage to
mailboxes:
* place a six-to-eight inch piece of reflective tape on the
mailbox to help snow plow drivers see the mailbox at night;
* remove snow from around the mailbox, but avoid throwing snow
back onto the road; and
* if the mailbox is, in fact, in PennDOT’s right-of-way, and was
damaged previously, the owner may want to consider relocating the
mailbox.
