Snow moves out, ice moves in, but sun will shine
The heavy snow that fell yesterday and turned to rain and freezing rain overnight has made roadways treacherous early this morning and caused numerous delays and cancellations at Philadelphia International Airport.
While major roadways are mostly clear, sidestreets and sidewalks are iced over throughout the city. Officials urge caution if you plan on making your way around town this morning.
On the sunny side: Conditions should rapidly improve with the system moving off the coast this morning and should give way to clearing skies for a fairly nice day overall, according to the most recent forecast by John Bolaris. A high of about 40 is expected. Although, more frigid air is expected to descend Monday.
About 4.5 to 4.8 inches of snow fell in the city Saturday. The highest reading in the Delaware Valley was Wilmington Manor in Delaware with about 6.7 inches. Wallingford in Delaware County, Pa., saw 6.5 inches. And Bordentown, Burlington County, N.J., saw 6.6 inches.
Yesterday's snow wreaked havoc on regional transportation systems, causing flight cancellations at Philadelphia International Airport, mass-transit delays, and a spike in motor-vehicle accidents, according to an article in the Inquirer.
SEPTA Bus Routes 2 and 7 remain suspended due to icy road conditions. Bus Routes H and XH have resumed normal operations following an earlier service suspension.
Total, there are nine city bus routes on detour and five suburban bus routes on detour. Passengers are advised to go to septa.org and check the system status section of the website for detour information.
Outbound trains along SEPTA's Trenton Regional Rail Line won't stop at Levittown Station due to emergency work. Passengers traveling outbound to Levittown will need to ride to Trenton Station and take an inbound train to Levittown Station.
The Delaware River Port Authority has imposed 25 mph speed restrictions on the Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross bridges.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed a ground stop for several hours Saturday that barred flights from taking off from the airport. Airport spokeswoman Mary Flannery said the action was taken because of the reduced visibility and high winds in the storm.
The FAA lifted the ground stop in the late afternoon, but about 20 percent of flights into and out of the airport were canceled, and flight delays persisted the rest of the day.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation dispatched about 400 trucks to work on area roads during the storm, laying down a new coat of salt on top of the residual material from Monday's storm.
"We put plenty of material down," said Charles Metzger, a PennDot spokesman.
Pennsylvania State Police reported numerous accidents on state roads, though few serious injuries were reported.
Troopers at the Avondale barracks in Chester County were handling up to seven accidents at once by Saturday afternoon. A barracks in Media reported a similarly busy afternoon.
New Jersey State Police reported a major backup at the junction of Routes 42 and 55 Saturday due to spinouts. Speed limits were reduced to 35 m.p.h. on state roads in the southern part of the state.
Few power outages were reported.