Coming winter storm could be nastiest of the season

Driving around, Jeff Watson couldn't help noticing that the landscape looked as if it was littered with the wooden detritus of 18th-century shipwrecks.

Ripped-down tree branches were everywhere after that disruptive snowstorm of two weeks ago, one in which Watson's employer, Peco, recorded 225,000 power outages, the third-highest total ever for a snowstorm. Close to 90,000 lost power in South Jersey.

This one might be less snowy, but forecasters are warning that it actually could be worse, perhaps the nastiest of an unbelievable winter.

Keep the candles and the generators handy.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter-storm warning until noon Friday, calling for 8 to 12 inches in the city, up to 16 to the north and west, and a bit less to the south and east, where mixing could be an issue.

Philadelphia has declared a state of emergency, effective at 9 a.m. Thursday.

The storm is forecast to become a potent and peculiar nor'easter that will become a "bomb" off the Jersey coast. It will take a bizarre path, paralleling the coast and then jogging inland near New York City and remaining stationary.

"I haven't seen anything like it," said Greg Heavener, a meteorologist at the weather service's Mount Holly office.

When the storm peaks later tomorrow and tomorrow night, it is expected to hammer the region with long-lasting and powerful winds, with gusts up to 50 m.p.h. not out of the question, said Henry Margusity, a meteorologist with Accu-Weather Inc.

During much of the day, with temperatures close to freezing, the snow might behave more like white rain on the roadways, which have been warmed by the February sun.

However, power-company officials fear that a dangerous accumulation of heavy, wet, tenacious snow might build on tree branches. Temperatures decrease with height, and the treetops tend to be cooler than the ground. That would make them vulnerable when winds peak.

About 10 inches of snow weighs more than 5 pounds per square foot, putting tremendous stress on branches. "That's a lot of weight they're carrying," said Watson, a vegetation-management project manager.

In addition to the power consequences, the prospect of falling branches is serious, said Anthony S. Aiello, director of horticulture at the Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill.

"It's dangerous to go out," he said. "Often these branches are called widow-makers - and with good reason."

Aiello said he still hasn't finished assessing the damage from the storm of two weeks ago because of all the snow that's still around. He does know that the 100 or so white pines planted for wind protection took a beating.

"Almost every white pine had some damage," he said.

Overall, any tree with year-round leaves or needles would be vulnerable to the ingenious snow, which can accumulate on the smallest surfaces.

The conifers are vulnerable, particularly the popular white pine, Watson said. "It's a pretty weak-wooded tree," he said. Last time around, he added, "very few of them survived without damage."

During the most recent storm, the wet snow came before the wind. As the temperature dropped, the snow bonded, and the howling winds that followed were no friends to the branches.

"The wind didn't clear the snow," Peco spokesman Michael Wood said. "What it did was knock [branches] down."

The scary thing, he said, is that a similar scenario is unfolding for today and tonight. "The forecast is worrisome," he said.

It has been a season of worrisome forecasts, and outcomes that actually have been worse.

Already, PennDot's Philadelphia region has set a record for salt use in a season, with 114,363 tons.

Officially, 73.1 inches of snow has been measured in Philadelphia, a total exceeding the height of Phillies second baseman Chase Utley.

If this forecast works out, think basketball star Kobe Bryant - or Shaquille O'Neal.