Weather service issues winter advisory
A winter weather advisory has been extended through the Tuesday morning commute.
“We're going to get a little bit of everything,” said Michael Brown, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Pittsburgh.
The service issued a winter weather advisory for a period between 6 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. Tuesday for Butler and other counties in Western Pennsylvania.
The service's forecast showed possible slippery and hazardous road conditions for the Monday evening commute because of mixed precipitation of snow and ice throughout Western Pennsylvania.
“We have a low-pressure system moving up the Ohio Valley, and precipitation is spreading out over our area in the southwest to the southeast,” said Brown on Monday night.
Brown said though temperatures above may be borderline freezing, the ground is still cold, creating the ideal conditions for rain to freeze on its way down.
Expectations as of Monday were to see to up to one inch of snow accumulation and one-tenth an inch of ice.
“It'll start off as snow, then a snow-sleet mix for a few hours,” Brown said. “We want to be on the safe side with freezing rain. Any freezing rain at all can create a glaze on the roads.”
Tina Gibbs, a spokeswoman for PennDOT District 10, advised caution for anyone on the roads.
“Roads during a storm will never be bare,” she said. “Handle your travel appropriately.”
District 10 issued an advisory Monday night to limit travel.
PennDOT implemented travel restrictions on trucks and other vehicles on Interstate 79 and Interstate 80, among others.
For I-79 and I-80, speed limits would be restricted to 45 mph for all vehicles.
Starting at 10 p.m. Monday and until lifted, the following vehicles will be banned from traveling on those roads: tractors without trailers; tractors towing unloaded or lightly loaded enclosed trailers, open trailers or tank trailers; tractors towing unloaded or lightly loaded tandem trailers; enclosed cargo delivery trucks that meet the definition of a commercial motor vehicle, or CMV; passenger vehicles (cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, etc.); towing trailers; recreational vehicles; motor homes; school buses; commercial buses and motor coaches not carrying chains or alternate traction devices; and motorcycles.
Also, commercial vehicles not affected by the bans must move to the right lane, unless work zone sign- age indicates otherwise.
On Monday, Gibbs said crews will be out before the storm arrives and are available to continue working through the night.
She advised people to slow down and respect the PennDOT vehicles as they work.
“When it comes to the plows themselves, it's best to give them as much distance as you can,” she said.
Gibbs said crews labored to make the morning commute as safe as possible with work that began Tuesday with pretreating some areas.
“A lot of the roads have pretty good salt coverage on them,” Gibbs said. “It doesn't look like rain, so we would be able to pretreat.”
The weather service is also predicting warmer conditions Tuesday morning, which will help thaw places that experience overnight freezing conditions.
Gibbs said the storm falls within their regular workload during the regular season.
“We will be out treating (the roads) and handling as best we can,” she said.
