A snowy start to the week
First Posted:
WILKES-BARRE — As you read your morning copy of the Times Leader, chances are you retreived it from a snow-covered porch or step today.
If you have children, they’re probably not in school. If you were headed out on a Luzerne County Transportation Authority bus, you certainly didn’t get an early start.
Across the region, the threat of a messy, icy snowstorm prompted cancellations on Sunday night and warnings from PennDOT and other officials about staying in today.
The good news is, the worst of the winter storm that had been anticipated all weekend probably has done its worst by the time you read this.
Mark Paquette, a meteorologist with AccuWeather, explained that a dip in the jet stream in the eastern part of the country contributed to the winter storm. That jet stream divides the cold northern air from the warm southern air — Paquette explained that the dip enabled colder air to grip the region.
“Once you get the cold air, you just need the moisture to come in,” he said.
Paquette said that after the region’s close call with another winter storm early last week, Paquette said this is a storm that forecasters have been watching.
“I think this has been a storm that we’ve been able to see for a long time,” he said.
Off-and-on snow is expected today, but Paquette said it will gradually taper off as the day progresses. He estimated that the storm will drop anywhere from 6 to 10 inches by the time the storm moves out of the region.
Paquette called the storm “a major winter storm”, but stressed that the timing and its affect on the Monday morning commute will be worse than the storm itself.
Paquette anticipated that the storm will have an impact on the morning commute and that schools would either delay the start of classes or close altogether.
A fresh snow pack, along with an arctic area of high pressure, will also combine to create a frigid night tonight.
“That (tonight) will be the coldest night,” Paquette said.
Paquette said the storm is typical for this time of the year, and called it the worst storm of of the winter storm so far. He added, however, that the storm is not historic or unheard of and probably won’t be the last of the season.
