Snow, cold delay some schools, snarl traffic
The first significant winter weather of the season hit Butler County overnight, lengthening commutes to work and causing some school districts to delay the start of classes.
The forecast is for periodic snow showers each day through Friday totaling several more inches of snow. Temperatures are expected to reach the single digits, with wind chills reading below zero and even colder temperatures through Saturday before warming into the 20s on Sunday.
All county school districts along with Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School delayed the start of classes by two hours this morning.
Fred McMullen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, said the snow and cold is coming from a clipper weather system that moved east from Ohio and the Plains states.
“It's going to be cold,” he said. “Not as record-breaking as last year but it's going to be real cold.”
He said Thursday is predicted to be the coldest day, with temperatures below 10 degrees and possible wind chills of 10 to 20 degrees below zero.
Road crews are geared for the harsh weather.
Jason Dailey, director of public works for Cranberry Township, said his crews started at 4 a.m. today working on 14 routes for morning commuters.
Dailey said his crews used a magnesium chloride and brine mix instead of just rock salt because of such low temperatures.
Crews are forced to use that concoction because rock salt is ineffective at colder temperatures.
Drivers experienced long traffic delays on Routes 19 and 228 in Cranberry Township.
A vehicle fire about 5 a.m. on Interstate 79 that forced police to close the southbound lanes in northern Allegheny County for an hour may have contributed to the delays on other roads.
Cranberry Eagle bureau editor Jeff Forward and Eagle staff writer Jared Stonesifer contributed to this report.
