Snow showed up historically early - and with a vengeance in northern Pennsylvania, from the Poconos past State College, Pa.
Trees and powerlines were down all over State College this morning because of a heavy, wet snow that started accumulating yesterday, according to meteoroogist Aaron Tyburski of the National Weather Service office there.
Five to six inches was on the ground in some of the higher elevations in north-central Pennsylvania, and nine inches was measured this morning on Center Hall Mountain, a few miles northeast of Penn State's main campus, he said.
In the Poconos, 6.1 inches was measured on Mount Pocono at 8:30 this morning. Just to the north, Tobyhanna had 4.3 inches as of 7 a.m.
A second storm system on the way could boost the totals.
"We may see another one or two inches tomorrow," Tyburski said this morning.
Penn State even canceled tailgating at its home game tomorrow against the University of Minnesota. Fans can't park on the grass lots because of the snow, so all the spaces on the paved lots will be needed for vehicles, the school announced today.
Areas south of the Poconos - even Allentown - just got rain.
Because the trees were still covered with leaves when the storm hit State College, walkers had to worry about falling limbs this morning, Tyburski said.
"You can actually hear them snapping as you walk underneath them," he said.
The snowfall hit three days before the previous record there, set on Oct. 18, 1901, when only one-tenth of an inch fell.
Surprisingly, the city of Philadelphia has seen earlier snowfalls - a trace on Oct. 9 in 1895, and 2.1 inches on Oct. 10 in 1979.
The storm system also brought some flooding to the counties along the Jersey Shore, with more expected tomorrow.
Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.
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