Mayor Nutter's message to residents was clear this morning: Please stay inside or get inside.
"We're encouraging people to stay in," Nutter said during a briefing outside his City Hall office. "It's going to be brutal out in the streets. If you don't have to be outside this afternoon, please stay in."
After a morning of rain and sleet, Nutter stressed that conditions were getting worse and more heavy snow, strong winds and icing is expected this afternoon. City government, courts and schools were closed for the day. Already, the city has deployed 460 pieces of equipment and 600 personnel to fight the storm.
"We really want people to be safe," Nutter said.
Nutter said it was too early to say if the city would be shut down tomorrow, noting that they'll keep monitoring the situation throughout the day. He expects to visit the city's emergency operations center this afternoon.