More snow today

From News-Item Staff)
Published: February 9, 2010

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The area is under a winter storm warning until 7 p.m. Wednesday evening.

By that time, the area will have gotten an additional six to 10 inches of snow, according to National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Greg DeVoir.

That means there'll be plenty of white stuff for folks who didn't get to finish their snowmen this past weekend.

The snow is set to begin sometime this afternoon, with up to one inch in accumulation, DeVoir said. But the majority of the snow should settle Tuesday night and into Wednesday, with the chance of snow near 100 percent.

So far this winter, the area has had about 19 inches of snow, DeVoir said. Most of the storm tracks have been further south. In fact, Harrisburg and areas south and east of the state capital could see more than a foot of snow this week.

The average snowfall for February is normally around 9.3 inches. So far, a little more than a week in, we've already had 3.7 inches.

"It's not uncommon for these big east coast snow storms to produce a seasonal average snowfall in one storm," DeVoir said.

The state Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is urging motorists to avoid unnecessary travel after the storm hits. Those who must travel should expect delays.

"I want to applaud those motorists who heeded our warnings last week and stayed off the roads over the weekend," said PennDOT's Deputy Secretary for Highway Administration, Scott Christie. "However, this storm will occur during the week, when many motorists will have no choice but to travel, so we're asking them to allow extra time to reach their destinations and be sure that their vehicle emergency kits are packed."

PennDOT warns motorists that although snow accumulations are not expected to approach the amounts seen this past weekend, high winds are expected to accompany the latest storm, creating the potential for near-zero-visibility and major drifting.

"The reality is that motorists who must travel Tuesday night and during the day on Wednesday will face conditions possibly worse than those seen over the weekend due to the strong, gusty winds currently forecast," Christie said.

PennDOT advises motorists who do encounter white-out conditions to make every attempt to come to a complete stop, but only after safely getting as far off the road as possible or preferably when there is a safe area to do so. Also, do not stop in the flow of traffic since this could create a chain-reaction collision.

PennDOT is making repairs to any equipment damaged during this past weekend's storm and will have its entire fleet operational for this new winter event. Minor damages such as broken wipers and burned out lights are common when removing heavy amounts of snow. Overall, the department has approximately 2,200 plow trucks available.

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