Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
SNOWSTORM ROUND TWO
Second nor’easter in a week hits drops snow across Philadelphia region
“Everybody has to be patient. We know that there is a lot of heavy snow at the ends of driveways.” — West Goshen Township Director of Public Works David Woodward Jr.
Wednesday’s nor’easter storm started slowly and hovered almost harmlessly throughout Wednesday morning in southern Chester County.
Children who went outside seeking some fun in the snow early found only slush to sled or build a snowman.
Meanwhile, municipal plow trucks trolled the neighborhoods actually seeking snow, but finding clear roadways instead.
But by noon, the onslaught of snow arrived with fury, bringing almost blinding blizzard conditions throughout the region.
Simultaneously, reports of fender-bender accidents started to come in along the Route 1 corridor.
Lots of preparations had been made on Tuesday night, with cancellations of schools and senior centers, and people loading up on food for the next day at supermarkets. Oxford had declared a state of emergency effective until Thursday night.
Emergency Management Coordinator Chuck Freese, who serves Penn, West Grove, Londonderry, Upper Oxford, London Grove and London Britain, said that preparation was a good thing, because the heavy snowfall came “just about as expected at the rate of 2 inches an hour.”
He had not heard of serious incidents — only that many businesses were closing early.
“People heard the predictions and they stayed off the road,” he said.
One heartening sign in the snowfall was the appearance of the East Penn train that had blown over in a gust of wind in Lower Oxford on Friday. It lumbered into Kennett Square at about 1:30 p.m. hauling what appeared to be about a half mile of railroad cars and two extra locomotives behind.
What about those budding flowers that peeked through the ground last week when the weather warmed?
Longwood Gardens Display Designer Jim Sutton said “snow is a good insulation for the buds and they are usually fine.”
West Goshen Township Director of Public Works David Woodward Jr., said snow from Wednesday’s storm did not easily drift, though crews had to keep up with plowing roads because the snow was heavy.
The township typically hits the pavement with brine prior to a winter storm but did not add beet juice, this week, to the road surface due to rain at the front end of the storm.
“Everybody has to be patient,” Woodward said. “We know that there is a lot of heavy snow at the ends of driveways.”
Woodward also said the last nor’easter knocked down more trees and utility lines.
“Low hanging lines impede trucks,” he said. “In the daylight you can see them, but it’s trickier at night.”
Woodward worked overnight from 9 p.m. Tuesday to 9 a.m. Wednesday. After a 12-hour shift he headed home for sleep and said he expected to return at about 8 p.m. Wednesday.
The township plows 95 miles of roads, with more than 30 pieces of machinery.
Officials at Kennett Consolidated School District made the call early Wednesday afternoon that school is cancelled Thursday.
The Downingtown Borough Department of Public Works had crews working since midnight on Tuesday to clear the roads. A full crew was used through 3 p.m. Wednesday when Jack Law, director of public works, said the roads were cleared and at that point in the afternoon were mostly only wet. The roads were passable and the crew also continued to maintain the sidewalks throughout the day.
Law said a down tree blocked the road on Lincoln Avenue and the crews were able to quickly clean it up to clear the road. He said there were no other issues.
“The crew did a good job. Thankfully we didn’t have to work longer hours with the forecasted amount (of up to a foot of snow),” Law said, adding there was about three or four inches of snowfall.
The Snow Emergency in Downingtown Borough was lifted at 6 p.m. Wednesday and the borough council meeting was postponed to March 21.