Region experiences first snowfall of winter
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
A city of Washington truck is filled with salt Thursday afternoon as public works crews across the region prepared for the first snowstorm of the winter.
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
A state Department of Transportation truck is filled with salt Thursday afternoon at PennDOT’s storage facility on Route 40 in South Strabane Township.
Crews across Western Pennsylvania hit the roads Thursday night as the region’s first winter storm was expected to drop several inches of snow overnight, with the highest accumulation predicted in Greene and Fayette counties.
“We’re ready to take on the snow event,” state Department of Transportation spokesman Jay Ofsanik said Thursday afternoon. “Our trucks are prepped. Our crews our ready to go. Our crews will be out as long as necessary.”
Ofsanik, who is based in Fayette County, said crews would take to the roads at the first sign of precipitation.
The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh announced a winter weather advisory for Fayette and Greene counties earlier in the day, along with a winter storm warning in the ridges of Fayette County. According to the NWS, the higher elevations in Fayette County were expected to receive the most accumulation, followed closely by low-lying areas around Uniontown.
Southeastern Greene County also was expected to receive moderate snowfall, along with the Mon Valley of Washington County. The rest of Washington County was expected to see light snowfall, said NWS meteorologist Lee Hendricks.
“With lower temperatures getting down into the mid-teens overnight, what does melt and becomes slush will end up freezing,” Hendricks said, noting commuters could be faced with hazardous driving conditions Friday morning.
With this being the first snowstorm of the season, many communities were reporting an abundant supply of salt due to the mild winter so far.
“I think they’re all actually happy to see some snow finally arrive,” said Bill Bottorff, director of public works for Cecil Township, about his road crew. “This will be the first time I’ve called them out this winter season, en masse. We’re sitting on some salt and we’re ready to rock and roll.”
Uniontown Public Works Director John Podolinski said his city’s road workers also were preparing Thursday and ready for whenever the snow began to fall.
“We’re just preparing like any other snowstorm. Getting our trucks all fueled up and making sure everything is maintained to the best of our abilities, trying to find enough manpower and equipment to handle it,” Podolinski said. “We usually can handle it pretty good.”
The timing of the snowfall appeared to accelerate, as it was originally expected to fall overnight, but began in Greene County late Thursday afternoon. Waynesburg Borough Manager Mike Simms was hopeful the bulk of snowfall would hold off just long enough to allow people to leave work and yield the roads to the plow trucks.
“It’ll be better for our plow trucks if no one’s on the road,” Simms said, adding they have plenty of salt supplies. “It’s helped in that we haven’t had to use much (salt) other than the occasional icy spot in the street.”
In Charleroi, the mild winter with no snowfall until now also has been good for the municipality’s salt supply, Borough Manager Joe Manning said.
“Because it’s been such a mild winter so far, we really haven’t had to put any wear and tear on the vehicles, and our salt supply is adequate. We haven’t had to deplete anything or had trucks break down because they’re out on the road,” Manning said. “So far it’s been a benefit for us.”
South Strabane Township was also ready to roll Thursday evening with a full bin of salt.
“This is the first year in 15 years we didn’t have a snow in October, November or December,” said Russ Grego, the township’s director of public works. “We’re ready. We’ve gone over everything and double-checked materials. Just got to wait to get some snow on the road.”