Winter weather causing frightful road conditions across region
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Michigan Avenue in Washington was covered with snow Wednesday afternoon.
Barbara S. Miller/Observer-Reporter
Snow began accumulating Wednesday morning in Peters Township, but this dog walker and pet were undeterred as it piled up by mid-afternoon when flakes were mixed with sleet.
Wednesday’s snowstorm, which was named Gail, was a “historic December snow storm” for the state, with parts of Central Pennsylvania getting 1 to 2 feet of snow, according to state meteorologist Jeff Jumper.
In the Southwestern region of the state, 3 to 5 inches of snow accumulated by 5 p.m. with another 4 to 6 inches overnight, according to Meteorologist Lee Hendricks, with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. The winter storm warning is in effect through 7 a.m. Thursday.
“It’s going to be mainly snow this evening, occasionally heavy at times,” Hendricks said Wednesday afternoon. “By the time this is all over, we’re looking at a snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches.”
He also said there’s a chance of freezing drizzle and some snow Thursday morning.
The snow created havoc on roadways across the region. Washington County dispatchers were busy fielding calls for crashes all day, starting at around 11 a.m. when the snow first started. Within the first two hours, they dispatched emergency responders to at least a dozen crash scenes.
Washington County Director of Public Safety Jeff Yates said he wasn’t sure exactly how many calls they’ve taken, because they’ve been too busy to keep track. He said the crashes happened all over the county, and in some cases, caused road closures in Charleroi and McMurray.
“It seems like no one has been really hurt severely,” he said Wednesday afternoon. “There may be some, but most seem to be fender-benders.”
The storm has added stress to first responders across the county, Yates said, as they respond to crash after crash, on roadways that are icy and often heavily traveled.
“They’re stressed already from the pandemic, and you throw this on top of it,” he said. “It’s just very difficult. Even when people do slow down, you don’t have to be going that fast to do a lot of damage. People need to stay home until the road crews can get their jobs done.”
Yates said the county doesn’t have any authority to issue travel bans, but he did advise residents not to travel on the roads until the storm is over.
“It’s dangerous to be on the roads right now, and the snow just keeps coming,” he said.
Several of the crashes reported Wednesday involved vehicles sliding off the roadway or rolling over hillsides or getting stuck on icy hills. There were also multi-vehicle crashes and reports of vehicles striking utility poles and fire hydrants.
By early afternoon, the state Department of Transportation restricted the speed on interstates across the state, including I-70 and I-79, to 45 miles per hour. Jay Ofsanick, press officer for PennDOT’s district 12, said additionally, all commercial traffic is restricted to the right lane of those interstates.
“There’s no particular roadways that are worse, but we want to limit travel to only necessary travel,” he said Wednesday afternoon. “If someone doesn’t need to be on the highway, today is the day to not travel.”
Some parts of the state also enacted a ban on empty commercial vehicles, trailers, buses and other vehicle that don’t handle snow well, according to Melissa Batula, PennDOT’s deputy secretary for highway administration.
“By keeping those vehicles off the system, that really helps make sure that we don’t have as many accidents that can degrade our ability to keep those roads safe and passible,” Batula said during a Wednesday afternoon virtual news conference.
Batula said those restrictions will be re-evaluated throughout the course of the storm.
Ofsanik said PennDOT was aware of several fender benders that occurred throughout the region, but as of 12:30 p.m., no major road closures, delays or major injury crashes had been reported.
“We want to be proactive, so that we can avoid any major crashes that would cause any injuries but also cause any problems with traffic backing up,” he said.
During a Wednesday afternoon news conference, Randy Padfield, director of the state’s Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), reiterated the importance for people to stay off the roadways.
“What we want you to do is stay home if you don’t need to go out,” he said. “It’s really critical in storms of this nature, road conditions and weather conditions can change very quickly, and lead to the challenges we’ve seen.”
He said people should be especially careful because of the strain on hospitals, as about one third of hospital beds across the state are “taken up with COVID positive patients.”
“Anything that adds or compounds impacts to the health care system is critical, especially at this time with COVID,” he said.
Padfield said if people absolutely have to drive someone, they should be prepared, with extra clothing, warm blankets, and food and water in their vehicle. He also said to make sure your phone is charged before you leave.
“We really want people to be prepared if they need to travel because there is a good possibility, in a storm like this, that they may actually have their travel impeded, and they may be stuck on the road because of accidents or the road may become impassible,” he said.
He also advised people to stay at home and be prepared in case of power outages. As of Wednesday afternoon, the number of reported power outages was not above normal, he said, but as the storm continues overnight, that number could increase.
“The bottom line is, if you need assistance, know where to go and have a plan,” Padfield said. “We’re all in this together. It’s really key that, if you have neighbors that live by themselves or are elderly, check in on them during this time.”
Batula said during the briefing PennDOT has been preparing for the storm for days and has activated all of its crews.
“This is an all hands on deck type of moment,” she said. “You staying off the roadway really allows our crews to get in there and get this snow cleaned up and keep the roads passible for those who absolutely have to travel.”
She said if people have to travel, they should slow down and maintain plenty of space between PennDOT plow trucks, to “allow them to do their work safely and for your protection.”