Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)

STORM SPUTTERS OUT

Area snow totals fall well short of forecast for Winter Storm Stella

- Staff Report

That blizzard of 2017 we all heard about never fully materializ­ed.

While weather forecaster­s predicted 12 to 18 inches of snow for the county, from a blizzard dubbed Winter Storm Stella, with heavy snowfall Monday night and into Tuesday, the storm fizzled out and midmorning sleet fell instead of three to four inches of snow per hour, as was predicted. Snow showers cleared in most of the county by 1 p.m. Tuesday.

With much of the snowfall tampering off, AccuWeathe­r reported that by noon, Warwick reported 7 inches of snow, Exton almost 6 inches, Valley Forge 5 inches, Chadds Ford 4 inches and West Chester with 4.5 inches of the white stuff.

Before the first snow flake and dusk fell Monday night, every public school district in the county had called school off for Tuesday. With several inches of snow on the ground, schools would have likely called a snow day for students and teachers to take the day off anyway to sled or snowboard.

AccuWeathe­r meteorolog­ist Tyler Roys said that although the storm took some by surprise, many would be pleased.

“They’re very happy they don’t have to be digging out

of much more snow,” Roys said.

The State College meteorolog­ist blamed the prediction on warm air associated with the storm aloft coming in further to the north. He said snow melted in the upper part of the atmosphere and froze into sleet.

“In this case — being off by 50 miles — this is the result we see,” Roys said. “The models we use only get us so far.”

Roys talked about how tough it is to forecast.

“What signals did we miss?” He said, “There are a lot of signals to make such a forecast. There are always things you can improve upon. We’ll go back and see what signs we missed.”

Pennsylvan­ia Department of Transporta­tion (PennDOT) Deputy Communicat­ions Director Brad Rudolph said that ice is the “great neutralize­r.”

Although the asphalt might show through, ice makes for a more dangerous storm.

“We’d rather have snow than ice,” Rudolph said. “Ice is really hard to control.”

Snow can be pushed around and salt used, but when using salt on ice, traction is needed to grind it in.

Rudolph said mid-morning that all of PennDOT’s 450 trucks and drivers were out working Monday night, prior to any snowfall, in wake of the department’s lowering of speed limits on area major roadways to 45 mph.

Downingtow­n Mayor Josh Maxwell said that emergency crews worked throughout the night.

“Public works crews kept roads reachable for fire trucks and ambulances continuous­ly throughout the storm,” Maxwell said, noting that some roads were icy. “Early this morning, long into their shift, crew members were plowing side streets and alleyways. Many of our personnel stayed overnight either at the police station or fire hall.”

Downingtow­n enacted a snow emergency at 8 p.m. Monday, and lifted it at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Chester County officials decided at around 10 p.m. Monday to announce that county offices, including the courts, would not open on Tuesday, ahead of the storm impact. Among other things, that meant a delay in the process of picking the county jury to hear the case of a Monroe County man accused of shooting two Pennsylvan­ia state troopers in Pike County. The individual questionin­g of potential jurors got underway Monday, but proceeded slowly with fewer than six panelists questioned. No juror was chosen. The trial is scheduled to begin April 3 and last up to six weeks.

The path of Route 202 from King of Prussia to West Chester was generally clear by late morning Tuesday, although there was little to no traffic on any stretch of the normally busy highway. Much of the road had been plowed at least once, and traffic moved easily, if more slowly than normal. Only a few cars – about a halfdozen – were seen off to the side of the road, most likely left there overnight by anxious drivers. The parking lots of the many office complexes along the Route 202 corridor were, as one might expect, virtually devoid of cars.

D-K Diner owner Vince Mackay said at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday that his West Chester diner might have been “the only game in town” to open for breakfast.

For three hours, Mackay worked the kitchen, while a customer poured coffee. No other staff showed up for work from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Business was up. Mackay estimated that he served 45 to 50 “plates,” or full meals, during the three-hour time period.

“Business is always better than average when you don’t have enough people,” Mackay said.

By noon, Dave Bravo of Malvern visited the Wawa at West Chester Pike and Manley Road in Westtown.

The project executive for a constructi­on company had already traveled about for 40 miles visiting work sites.

“When sitting at home it didn’t look that bad, but it’s much worse when you’re outside,” Bravo said.

Eric Miller, of Glen Mills, stopped at the Westtown Wawa for his second cup of coffee for the day, while out and about plowing driveways.

“Thank God for Wawa; they’re always open,” Miller said.

West Chester Police reported that there were no traffic crashes between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the borough, with no reported damage from sleet or ice.

At 2 p.m., PECO reported that there were 90 customer power outages in the county; 49 customers in West Goshen and 41 in East Marlboroug­h were still without power, at mid-afternoon.

Jackie Thompson, PECO spokespers­on, said that most of the outages were storm-related, due to high winds, ice and snow. Thompson said that PECO was still monitoring high winds, which might cause additional outages.

At 2 p.m., PECO reported 3,300 outages system-wide. The electric supplier serves 1.6 million customers.

 ?? PETE BANNAN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA ?? PennDOT-contracted plow trucks clear snow along Lancaster Avenue in Devon Tuesday morning. Most people stayed off the road during the morning, easing work for plows.
PETE BANNAN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA PennDOT-contracted plow trucks clear snow along Lancaster Avenue in Devon Tuesday morning. Most people stayed off the road during the morning, easing work for plows.
 ?? PETE BANNAN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA ?? West Chester resident Bob Loper chats with neighbors Susan Batchelor and Park Messikomer as they shovel their car out on North New Street in West Chester Tuesday morning. Snow totals were lowered by sleet and rain that fell during the storm.
PETE BANNAN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA West Chester resident Bob Loper chats with neighbors Susan Batchelor and Park Messikomer as they shovel their car out on North New Street in West Chester Tuesday morning. Snow totals were lowered by sleet and rain that fell during the storm.
 ??  ?? Crews load snow into trucks at Gay and North New streets in West Chester during the tail end of Tuesday’s storm.
Crews load snow into trucks at Gay and North New streets in West Chester during the tail end of Tuesday’s storm.
 ?? PHOTOS BY PETE BANNAN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA ?? Georgio Malle clears the sidewalk along Lancaster Avenue in Downingtow­n Tuesday morning. Snow turned to rain and sleet overnight.
PHOTOS BY PETE BANNAN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Georgio Malle clears the sidewalk along Lancaster Avenue in Downingtow­n Tuesday morning. Snow turned to rain and sleet overnight.

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