Region, school districts brace for winter storm
Brian Shepley, left, of Brier Hill, and Don Swaney of Hopwood look over Lowes' snow blowers in front of the store on Wednesday afternoon, as snow began to fall. The winter's first significant snowstorm is predicted to drop more than half a foot of snow on the area over the weekend.
Ernest Umbel of Friendsville, Maryland, loads 160 pounds of salt into his trunk as flurries begin to fall on Wednesday afternoon. A snowstorm is predicted to drop more than half a foot of snow on the area over the weekend.
Though she might be a bit late, Mother Nature is finally heralding in the winter season with a snow storm that promises several inches of snow for the southwestern Pennsylvania region.
Some local school districts have even taken measures to ensure the students’ safety tomorrow in the event that the snow brings traveling concerns.
On Wednesday, students in the Albert Gallatin Area School District were sent home with a letter informing their parents or guardians that the district “is considering a two hour early dismissal” on Friday.
“At this time an early dismissal is not definite, however we are giving you advance notice of the possibility of an early dismissal so you have ample time to make necessary arrangements for childcare in the event we do send the students home early,” according to the note on behalf of the district administration.
The letter also indicated that as soon as a decision is made, updates will be posted on social media and local media outlets. They said they will take local forecasts into consideration.
As for those in the Laurel Highlands School District, Superintendent Jesse Wallace said they’ve had some discussion, but it’s too early to make a decision.
“Thursday, once we have a 24-hour window, we’ll reevaluate. If we’re going to do something, then that’ll be communicated (Thursday),” Wallace said.
Monessen School District Dr. Leanne Spazak said she is waiting until closer to Friday to determine a course of action. Spazak said she prefers not to end school early because she would be sending many students home to empty houses.
Spazak said the worst case scenario would be for a significant storm to hit right dismissal.
Belle Vernon Area School District Superintendent Dr. John Wilkinson said he and transportation Director Dave Bashida have been monitoring weather forecasts on an hourly basis for the end of the week.
“Typically we don’t let our kids out early because we don’t know who’s home,” Wilkinson said. “We don’t want to send kids home who will be unsupervised.”
“It’s warm here and there’s plenty of food.”
Wilkinson noted that the district delayed sending high school students home Jan. 12 after the area received a snow storm. The elementary school buses were delayed by 45 minutes. Wilkinson said buses were held at the school that day in order to give road crews a chance to plow roads in the district communities.
Bill Modzelewski, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, said the region a potential to get more than six inches total in the snowstorm.
Snowfall is estimated to begin during the day on Friday and last through most of Saturday. Areas along the ridges will likely see more, and southern parts of Westmoreland County may see lesser amounts, he said.
A special weather statement from the NWS indicated that a winter storm watch is in effect for much of the readership area from Friday afternoon through late Saturday night with periods of the most intense snow occurring overnight Friday into the following morning.
Strong wind gusts may also be a factor as they reach up to 30 MPH in the ridges.
“Hazardous travel conditions are expected due to snow accumulation. Strong wind may drift snow across roads and reduce visibility,” according to the statement.
The temperatures, however, will warm up to around 30 degrees on Friday with upper 20s on Saturday.
“There’s a stronger trough of low pressure across the Mississippi Valley region that has created this strengthening weather system,” Modzelewski said.
On Wednesday, the weather service issued blizzard and winter storm watches for parts of Maryland, Washington, Virginia and West Virginia. The watches start as early as Thursday and stretch into Saturday.
The bigger cities could get 1 to 2 feet of snow, but first the storm will bring ice and freezing rain to Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky starting Thursday, prediction center Meteorologist Rich Otto said. But it’s not yet clear where the storm will hit the hardest, he said Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of details that are yet to be seen,” Otto said. “Subtle changes can make a big difference. We’ve seen that in storms in the past.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.