Storm coats the district with 4 to 5 inches of snow
Joel Brewton | Herald-Standard
Jordan Brewer (left to right), 17, Abby Valek, 18, and Will Ulmer, 17, all of Uniontown, catch major airtime on their toboggan at Uniontown Country Club, Saturday.
Joel Brewton | Herald-Standard
Jayna Fabery, 5, of Uniontown hitches a free ride up the hill with her uncle Shawn Minerd at Uniontown Country Club, Saturday.
The coldest week of the winter — so far — ended with a storm that coated the district with an average of 4 to 5 inches of snow Friday and Saturday, causing schools and activities to be canceled and keeping road crews occupied.
“It was a busy weekend,” said Perry Township Supervisor A.J. Boni. “We got a good dedicated group of guys. It started at noon and they probably put in 16 extra hours Friday and Saturday.”
Brad Rehak, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, said officials correctly predicted the amount of snowfall that occurred as a storm system swung through the Great Lakes. He said the lowlands received 4 to 5 inches while the mountain area was hit with 5 to 6 inches. Rehak said most of the light to moderate snow fell Friday afternoon.
A spokesman for state police in Uniontown said, “The roads were bad and there were some accidents but not a crazy amount.”
Boni said crews in Perry Township worked to take care of roads so school buses could take students home as Frazier School District called for an early dismissal Friday.
He praised the road crews once again, noting, “We have some dedicated employees who are not afraid to stay behind the wheel of the truck to get the snow off the road. The scenery doesn’t change much when it’s snowing like that. As fast as you’re plowing the roads, the snow is covering it back up.”
Boni said, “Whatever weather they throw at us, we’ll be out. That’s our job. That’s what we do. That’s every township in this county.”
While snow continued through Friday night and into Saturday, Greg Flick of Fayette County 911 said, “It was a very quiet Friday evening.”
Light snow continued to fall on Saturday but roads were clear by mid-day.
The snow came at the end of a very cold week. Rehak said temperatures last week ranged from 4 to 11 degrees for the lows with Tuesday the coldest day, when the high only reached 13. He said the average for temperatures this time of year is a high of 36 and a low of 21.
Today should be dry but freezing rain is expected late this evening, continuing into Monday morning with rain in the afternoon. Then temperatures start to warm as Monday’s high is expected be 45 degrees.