Snow: More power outages loom

In the late-day briefing, the final one before the actual storm, the National Weather Service is warning that PECO crews could be for another busy few days.

While forecast details still differ, the consensus is that the storm will kick off with several inches of heavy, water-logged snow, can combined with high winds, "will result in fallen trees and power outages,"  said the briefing's author, Gary Szatkowski, the chief at the Mount Holly office.

Some of the region's trees still are bearing the weight of snowfall from the snowstorm of Feb. 3, said Tyler Arboretum Director of Horticulture, Mike Karkowski. It was that snow set up the power-outage extravaganza that followed with the Feb. 5 ice storm.

For the trees, last week was more devastating than Superstorm Sandy, he said. Comparatively, he said, "Sandy was a cakewalk."

The most-vulnerable trees are the evergreens, he said, particularly the white pines. Since they hold on to their needles in winter, they are better at collecting additional snow weight than deciduous trees.

Even so, he noted, the snow and ice of last week took tolls on the leaf-less. Hundreds of trees at Tyler were damaged, he said, including two dating to the 1830s and 1850s.

Those long branches that reach out from their trunks obviously have their breaking points. The analogy he used was one of holding books. They are a whole lot easier to hold up when your arms are closer to your body, rather than extended.

On a positive note, he said that homeowners -- not to mention Tyler, which is on a tight budget – did get some serious free tree-pruning last week, courtesy of Mother Nature.