Nor’easter No. 4 dumps 6-plus inches of snow on us
Nor’easter No. 4 dumps 6-plus inches on region;U.D. closes schools again Thursday
So how do you like Spring so far?
Nor’easter No. 4 for the month of March lashed the region all day Wednesday with rain and heavym, wet snow, closing schools, business, governments and keeping plow drivers busy.
At least one school district, Upper Darby, has closed its doors again Thursday and officials have placed various warnings asking residents to take it easy on the morning commute, as well as shoveling the heavy snow.
To those asking will spring ever come, Father Winter responds that he is not going out without a fierce fight, pelting the region with snow from mid-morning through Wednesday night
By Wednesday evening, Gov. Tom Wolf was asking Pennsylvania residents to be wary on their rides into work today.
“Snow is forecast to continue through the evening and into early Thursday morning,” the governor said. “Residents in the path of the storm – primarily the southern and eastern parts of the state – should continue to be judicious in choosing to travel and should postpone any unnecessary trips. We want to ensure PennDOT and municipal road crews are able to do their jobs to clear roadways safely and without delays.”
The governor spent part of his day at a PennDOT maintenance facility in Philadelphia, praising the workers for clearing the roads through the storm.
Tons of events and transportation runs were canceled because of the weather event, including a legislative hearing state Rep. Chris Quinn, R-168 of Middletown was planning to host at Penn State Brandywine today to review the safety and regulations surrounding the Mariner East projects. That event will rescheduled at a later date.
More than 700 flights were cancelled at Philadelphia International Airport, PennDOT placed various commercial vehicle restrictions on state roads and while some were lifted by mid-afternoon Wednesday, others – including those on the Blue Route, I-95 and I-78 – remained in effect through the evening hours.
SEPTA rail lines were running behind scheduled and a variety of bus services had to be suspended for the day as snow pounded through the hours.
Although snow continued to fall, National Weather Service meteorologists were expected Delaware County to measure around 8 to 12 inches.
By Wednesday evening, the Upper Darby School District had cancelled classes for today. Several other school districts, including Springfield and Rose Tree Media, had announced they would operate on a two-hour delay.
Locally, Delaware County officials said the day seemed to go well, with many residents staying off the roads, as asked.
Timothy Boyce, Delaware County’s director of emergency services, said the situation wasn’t too bad.
“The county is not overly busy,” he said. “People seemed to have heed the warnings. We’ve been on standby for the blizzard all day. It’s a regular day for us.”
As of late Wednesday afternoon, Boyce said there were only a few power outages, in stark contrast to the tens of thousands who lost power when a Nor’easter packing 60 mph wind gusts whipped the region two weeks ago. There was a a fire in East Lansdowne that required an emergency personnel response and chased several residents from their homes. No serious injuries were reported.
“For the firefighters, it’s a dangerous job,” he said, “but when you add ladders and snow and ice ... there are a lot of things that can happen. We really want to make sure that no one falls.”
To make it easier for first responders to get to their locations, he was asking motorists to pull over to let them by.
Boyce said he was thankful the wind wasn’t as strong as a couple of weeks ago, even as he added,
“It doesn’t take much to push the trees over.”
He issued a stern warning, however.
“The only caution is this is heavy snow, so please, please, please, if you’re having chest pains, (stop),” he said.
Delaware County Council
Chairman John McBlain advised anyone unable to clear their walks to contact their town hall.
“My advice would be to contact their municipal buildings ... to let them know you’re not able to do it for one reason or another,” he said. “I don’t know of any municipality that would enforce the laws you reach out to them.” He said most municipalities keep a list of local youth or contractors who would shovel residents’ properties for them.
“At this point, it is a heavy, wet snow,” McBlain said. “Don’t exert yourself. If you don’t think you can do it, if you’re really worried about it, call your municipality, you’ll be OK.”
Both he and Boyce noted that temperatures are expected to rise into the 50s by early next week.
“We’re expecting the weather to break relatively quickly ... just hoping nobody has a heart attack shoveling snow,” Boyce said Wednesday afternoon.
He said that is a serious concern and recommended folks to call a neighbor or anyone for help rather than hurt themselves.
“Just don’t go out there,” he said to any resident who thinks they’d be unable to clear the snow without causing themselves harm. “It’s tragic that people just overexert themselves and it is going to melt, there’s no doubt about that.”