Oh, the weather outside is frightful
Cars careened on highways and motorists abandoned vehicles in the Washington area late Friday as snow melted and turned into sheets of ice.
A Washington County emergency dispatch supervisor confirmed at least a dozen accidents occurred on Interstates 70 and 79. State police said though they responded to many calls, most were located in off-ramp areas, and they did not report any injuries.
A vehicle rolled over at mile marker 12 on I-70 west, but emergency supervisors said a brief snow squall about 8:45 p.m. was to blame. Traffic was otherwise at a standstill on I-70 for multiple accidents between the Beau Street exit and the South Junction.
Motorists reported staying in place for as long as three hours in the city because they couldn’t make it up or down hills safely.
National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Green said there was less than a half-inch of snow that fell between 7 and 10 p.m., but the heat from cars melted the snow, and with temperatures of 25 degrees recorded in Greene and Washington counties, the water quickly refroze.
Social media posts mocked drivers’ cautious behavior, with one post reading, “Oh no! A half inch of snow! What will we do?!” But drivers going up and down hill on West Chestnut Street in Washington weren’t laughing.
“We were coming from the Penguins game, and the junction of I-70 with the Erie and Washington exits was backed all the way off the ramp,” said Mary Downey of Amity, who parked her car in the 700 block of West Chestnut Street as she approached the downward grade and saw cars scattered with emergency flashers on.
“Police directed us back up (I-79 north), then I came back through Canonsburg, which was dry, and then the Jessop Place exit. It was just as much an ice rink as it was watching the Penguins,” Downey said.
Ice remained on some roads in East Washington and Canton Township neighborhoods as late as 1 p.m. Saturday, with pedestrians skipping the sidewalks and taking it to the streets.
“I’ve been sitting here for nearly two hours. I’m not moving,” said a West End woman who remained parked on Chestnut early Saturday morning.
“I haven’t seen any salt trucks on the main roads, but (city public works crews) hit Maple and out where I live. I think I’m just going to walk home tonight, because cars are going around like pinballs.”