A WINTER WONDERLAND
Storm dumped more than a foot of snow in some areas
Samantha Kenney, 20, and Nicole Bernon, 20, both of McKees Rocks, walk up Woodward Avenue in McKees Rocks on Thursday. Snow covered much of Western Pennsylvania, with municipalities reporting as much as 20 inches of accumulation starting Wednesday night and lasting into the early morning hours Thursday.
The Wednesday/Thursday snowstorm blanketed the Pittsburgh region with 6 to 15 inches of snow — and even more as Indiana County clocked in with 20 inches.
“I would lean toward that being our champion at this point,” meteorologist Lee Hendricks, of the National Weather Service in Moon, said about Indiana County’s accumulation.
He said snowfall intensified a little overnight as a couple of heavy bands of snow moved through and with temperatures hovering in the upper 20s.
The winter storm warning was canceled about two hours early, at 4:40 a.m. Thursday as the storm pushed out of the area, Mr. Hendricks said.
Some area snow totals as reported by the weather service:
▪ Center Township, Indiana County — 20 inches Wexford — 14 inches North Braddock — 13.5 inches Freeport — 11 inches Lawrenceville — 11 inches Gibsonia — 10.8 inches Vandergrift — 10.7 inches Aspinwall — 10.1 inches Monroeville — 10 inches Hampton — 10 inches Castle Shannon — 10 inches Natrona Heights — 9.5 inches Plum — 9.5 inches Zelienople — 5.9 inches Pittsburgh easily broke its record for Dec. 16 snowfall and hit another milestone as one of the snowiest December days here. By 8 p.m. Wednesday, the weather service said about 5 inches of snow had fallen shattering the 1.9-inch record set on that date in 1890.
Also, the weather service offices in Moon measured an official 10 inches — tying it as the fourth snowiest day in December in Pittsburgh. It hit that same mark on Dec. 31, 1897. The snowiest was on Dec. 17, 1890, when 22 inches fell. The service started keeping records in 1880.
Roads remained slick and slushy Thursday, as light snow continued to fall.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said Public Works crews were out for hours clearing the roadways.
On Thursday afternoon, the city said it had received nearly 10 inches of snow and that it was the fifth-largest snowfall event in December in the city’s recorded history.
The city said the crews charged with removing the snow have been doing so while short-staffed, as 25 of the Public Works employees are off “due to COVID-related reasons,” the city said in a statement.
The city also said some neighborhoods are experiencing recycling collection delays due to staffing issues in the Environmental Services division. Residents of the California-Kirkbride, Perry North/Observatory Hill, Perry Hilltop, Arlington, Mount Oliver and South Side Slopes neighborhoods are asked to leave their recycling at the curb as crews will be working extended shifts to collect them through the remainder of the week. Residents are reminded to ensure their refuse and recycling are free of snow for collection.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation lifted its speed limit restrictions that were in place on several state highways and other routes in the region, spokesman Steve Cowan said Thursday.
Speed limits were reduced to 45 mph Wednesday as the snowstorm intensified, impacting travel on the roadways.
Looking ahead, Friday is expected to be mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid-30s. There’s also a 40% chance of rain and snow Saturday night and Sunday morning, the weather service said. After the weekend, the weather will be mostly dry through Tuesday.