It would be easy enough to condemn the Pennsylvania Turnpike after the weekend’s snow-induced shutdown that left hundreds of motorists stranded.

Two westbound semi trucks got stuck Friday night while ascending to the Allegheny tunnels in Somerset County. Before Turnpike officials could respond, more than 500 vehicles were backed up and standing still for 16 miles.

Most of those vehicles were still there 24 hours later, thanks to a persistent Winter Storm Jonas depositing two to three feet of snow making it even more difficult to remove the vehicles and plow the highway — all on the steep mountainside grades that lead up to the tunnel.

On Monday, Gov. Tom Wolf acknowledged that “the biggest storm this part of the country has ever had to deal with” caught emergency crews by surprise in Somerset and Bedford counties when snow started falling six hours earlier and farther west than expected.

The turnpike commission chairman was apologetic. “I can promise you all that there will be a thorough analysis of the events that led up to this incident, as well as a review of what occurred over the course of the last two and a half days,” Sean Logan said in a statement. “I want to be certain that we do a better job the next time something like this occurs, and that we can learn from this tragedy.”

Well, there’s no need to call it a tragedy. A calamity, maybe.

Professional truck drivers should be aware of the weather forecast — and there’s no excuse not to be aware these days. For nearly three days, the 24-hour news and weather networks had been going nonstop predicting a storm of near-record proportions. Governors in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia declared states of emergency on Thursday, a day ahead of the blizzard, out of respect for the sheer size and ferocity of the coming storm front.

That alone was enough for most of us to get home and hunker down. It gave ample time for the rest to alter their travel plans and delay any business.

The remaining handful who had no choice — who really had to travel — should have equipped their vehicles with emergency supplies like food, water and blankets.

But it’s not likely all 500 stranded vehicles were filled with people who had to travel without delay. It’s more likely that the vast majority of them took a risk, however calculated, and lost.

Nature demands more respect than that. Forecasts have gotten much more accurate in recent years but they’re not perfect. The weather folks might have missed on the location and duration of Jonas, but they nailed the important part: This is a deadly storm. Don’t take it lightly.

The turnpike commission has taken its lumps for previous incidents, and deservedly so. There have been numerous reports and trial involving waste, corruption, drivers dodging EZ-pass payments, and rate hikes.

But it’s not fair to blame the Turnpike for the foolish choice of motorists who had been warned well in advance not to drive in a blizzard and did so anyway.