Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Coming this way: A white Thanksgiving

If you were looking for a last-minute excuse to stay home on Thanksgiving, Wednesday's forecast could be a rock-solid justification.

A plow is mounted onto a new "wing plow" truck in Norristown on Nov. 25, 2014. ( CLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer )
A plow is mounted onto a new "wing plow" truck in Norristown on Nov. 25, 2014. ( CLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer )Read more

If you were looking for a last-minute excuse to stay home on Thanksgiving, Wednesday's forecast could be a rock-solid justification.

Anywhere from one to eight inches of snow is expected to drape the Philadelphia region on the busiest travel day of the year, when AAA predicts more than 500,000 area residents will hit the roads.

A nor'easter will first bring overnight wind and rain, which will be heavy at times, before dumping wet snow as soon as late Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service said. The northern and western parts of the region will be the hardest hit.

"It'll be a slow travel day, I think, for a lot of people," said meteorologist Gary Szatkowski. "Patience will be an important commodity."

Philadelphia International Airport warned travelers that flights "may be impacted."

State Department of Transportation officials on Tuesday urged drivers to alter their travel plans to avoid the storm, which is expected to be at its heaviest between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Les Toaso, PennDot's District Six executive, promised that his 400-plus plow-and-salt trucks are prepared.

On Tuesday afternoon, PennDot workers were busy readying Montgomery County's fleet. They appeared relaxed and said they were confident that they - and the region's travelers - would be sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner well rested and with their families.

"It's a break-in storm," said Doug Heichel, a cigarette hanging from his mouth as he helped affix a plow to his truck. "After last winter, it can't be nothing."

PennDot has been preparing for the storm since Monday morning, when the train-whistle ringtone on Bill Zilen's phone began a barrage of alerts about the impending storm and the status of Montgomery County's fleet of trucks.

When the PennDot equipment manager went to bed that night, his wife asked him to turn off the phone.

Not a chance, he said.

"She knows the drill," he said with a laugh. "We've been married almost 20 years by now."

Zilen said he expects to finish clearing the storm or even heading home by midnight.

"This is nothing," he said. "We've done this. It's just another day pushing the snow to the side of road."

610-313-8118 @Ben_Finley