A record-setting snowfall slammed Western Pennsylvania on Sunday as schools canceled Monday classes; libraries, museums and retailers from Giant Eagle to Walmart closed their doors; and officials prepared for a weeklong stretch of frigid weather.
Around 10 to 12 inches of snow blanketed most municipalities in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties by Sunday night. More than 11 inches had fallen by 9 p.m. at the National Weather Service’s office in Moon. The previous record for Jan. 25 — 5.2 inches, in 2014 — was broken by breakfast.
Snowfall totals of 12 inches were reported Sunday evening in Bethel Park, Carnegie and McKeesport, according to the National Weather Service.
As for Monday’s forecast, the NWS says there is a chance of more snow — although less than a half inch — in the region, mainly between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. They are saying skies will be mostly cloudy with a high near 19 degrees, and wind chills around zero. Monday evening, the low will drop to about 2 below, with wind chills as low as minus-17.
Late Sunday, further north of Pittsburgh saw deeper snow totals. Readings of 14 inches were recorded in West View, Hampton and elsewhere in the North Hills.
In Connoquenessing, 13 miles northeast of Cranberry, the snow was 18½ inches deep by 9 p.m., meteorologists said.
In New Bethlehem — a Clarion County borough of less than 1,000 residents — 19 inches of snow fell Sunday; Clintonville, the Venango County town 70 miles north of Pittsburgh and 90 miles from Erie, reported 20 inches.
Pittsburgh-area rivers were continuing to freeze around 9 p.m., meteorologist Matt Brudy told TribLive. No ice jams or related problems had been reported.
“We don’t have total coverage on any of the rivers — yet,” Brudy said. “But over the next week, it’s going to build and it’s going to thicken. It’s going to be real cold here this week.”
While Sunday’s heaviest snow eased up in the Pittsburgh area around 8 p.m., additional accumulations overnight should bring most of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties close to 14 inches of snow.
Lighter “on-and-off snow” Monday will add less than 1 inch to snow counts, meteorologists said.
“If you don’t need to be driving on the roads, don’t,” said Matthew Brown, Allegheny County’s chief of emergency services. “We continue to preach: stay off the roads.”
A winter storm warning is in effect until 1 p.m. Monday. During Sunday peaks, as much as 2 inches of snow an hour fell on parts of Pittsburgh.
Temperatures are forecast to linger between 15 and 20 degrees for much of the week, meteorologists said. Evening lows, however, will plummet as low as -5 degrees.
Wind chills, especially Monday night and early Tuesday, will make it feel like -15 to -20 degrees, according to the National Weather Service; parts of the Laurel Highlands could feel as frigid as -25.
“This is extreme, extreme cold,” Brown said during a media briefing at 4 p.m. Sunday. “You’re talking five minutes of exposed skin and you’re dealing with frostbite.”
Pittsburgh last received 10 inches or more of snow on Feb. 5, 2010, according to the National Weather Service.
The largest snowfall in recent years blanketed the region on March 13, 1993, when the “Blizzard of ‘93” dropped 23.6 inches of snow on the city.
The snow Sunday morning initially was dry but a slight afternoon uptick in temperature — which rose from 20 to 28 degrees at 5,000 feet above sea level — was creating a wetter, heavier mix on the ground, meteorologist Bill Modzelewski told TribLive.
The scene around the region
Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, however, can worry less about downed wires and potential power outages than their neighbors near Morgantown, W.Va., where freezing rain started mixing with snow Sunday afternoon.
“In Pittsburgh, it’s not that real heavy, thick snow that sticks on power lines and trees,” Modzelewski said. “Across Western PA, in Allegheny County, in Westmoreland, it doesn’t look like that will be a huge issue.”
As of 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Duquesne Light reported very few customers without power around Pittsburgh; one map showed five without service in the Carnegie area.
In Fayette County and along the state’s border with Maryland, snow mixed with sleet and freezing rain left about 900 customers without power, West Penn Power said. Power was restored there Sunday evening.
At 9:30 p.m., fewer than 20 West Penn Power customers were without power around Uniontown, an online map showed. There was another cluster of less than 20 customers without power near Connellsville, about 20 miles south of Greensburg.
Emergency dispatchers in Allegheny, Armstrong and Westmoreland counties were not reporting any major incidents.
Travel is expected to be hazardous through Sunday night into Monday morning.
Authorities warned residents to avoid going out unless absolutely necessary so emergency responders and public works crews can work on getting roads safe. They advised residents to avoid carbon-monoxide poisoning by running generators only outside of their homes, and to be mindful of how outdoor temperatures could lead to injury.
“Be cognizant of what your body is telling you — we want to avoid those overexertion injuries,” Brown said. “Do everything that you can to keep yourself safe.”
A total of 20 area municipalities declared states of emergency ahead of the storm. That gives them more buying and emergency options, if needed.
Allegheny County says its public works department deployed 26 salt trucks with plows around midnight Sunday. Each county-maintained road — covering 357 miles in all — had been plowed at least six times Sunday, county public works director Stephen Shanley said.
About 60 public works trucks were tending to Pittsburgh roads around dinnertime Sunday, city officials said.
Drivers, though, should not expect to see bare roads while the snow is still falling.
“Once (the snow) stops falling, we will start salting and get those roads in good condition,” Shanley told reporters Sunday. “Traffic has been light and that has helped our truck drivers tremendously.”
Emergency dispatch centers were well-staffed Sunday afternoon, authorities said. Hospital operations also did not appear negatively impacted by the storm.
“They’re all operational,” Brown said. “There’s nothing that is pressing them at this time.”
PennDOT has temporarily reduced speed limits to 45 mph on several area roadways, including interstates 79, 279, 376 and 579; and routes 28 and 65. As of early Monday morning, PennDOT lifted Tier 3 restrictions on interstate roads and Route 28, which means cars and pickups are permitted along with some commercial vehicles. However, buses, RVs and empty commercial vehicles remain prohibited.
Road conditions Sunday delayed most Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus services and caused PRT to cancel several lines.
Shortly after 5 p.m., the transit agency shut down all bus and rail operations until at least Monday morning.
Westmoreland Transit will not run bus service until noon on Monday.
At least 140 people sought shelter Sunday at Second Avenue Commons, a homeless shelter in Downtown Pittsburgh, authorities said. An “overflow triage area,” which allows pets, also was opened.
Another 139 people slept Sunday at a North Side shelter, county human services director Erin Dalton told TribLive.
All ACCESS paratransit service was canceled Sunday, PRT said. On Sunday evening, PRT announced that ACCESS is also canceled Monday.
Information on road conditions is available online at 511pa.com.
Pittsburgh is providing updates on its snow response online at pittsburghpa.gov.
Travel both in and out of Pittsburgh International Airport was crippled for much of Sunday, according to the airport authority’s website.
By 8 p.m., about 40 flights had arrived or departed on time. More than 200 were cancelled; at least 17 were delayed.
Airport officials advised travelers to check directly with their airline for updated information on delays or cancellations.
Some people are using alternate means of transportation locally. On the Pittsburgh section of Reddit, a contributor named “Negley Ave Ski Club” has posted a video of skiiing down Negley Avenue in Squirrel Hill, headed toward Fifth Avenue:
Earning my username. Ski POV down S. Negley Ave
byu/negley_ave_ski_club inpittsburgh
School’s out
Dozens of school districts and Pittsburgh’s library system have announced Monday closures.
By 5 p.m., districts from Aliquippa to Upper St. Clair, and Baldwin-Whitehall to Greensburg-Salem said they planned to turn to remote instruction Monday. Schools in North Allegheny already announced closures or remote learning for Tuesday.
Multiple public school districts — including Duquesne city, Mt. Lebanon, Fox Chapel and Canon McMillan in Canonsburg — cancelled classes all together. So did 12 different Propel Schools and private schools such as Ellis School, Winchester Thurston, Kentucky Avenue School and Community Day School.
A list of closings and delays is available from TribLive news partner WTAE. See also today’s TribLive story about closures.
Most college campuses — Chatham, Slippery Rock, Penn West University-California, University of Pittsburgh, Point Park, Carnegie Mellon, Duquesne, Carlow, La Roche — are set to go remote Monday.
Robert Morris University is closed Monday, as is Community College of Allegheny County.
All Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh and three food banks, including the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in Duquesne, are closed through Monday. Carnegie Museums in Oakland, and the Kamin Science Center and Andy Warhol Museum on Pittsburgh’s North Shore closed Sunday.
Giant Eagle closed all corporate Giant Eagle and Market District locations at 4 p.m. Sunday. The company said it intends to reopen stores for normal business hours Monday.
In Allegheny County, all divisions of the Court of Common Pleas, all magisterial district courts and Pittsburgh Municipal Court are closed Monday. Arraignment court will remain open and individuals still can obtain emergency restraining orders.
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office and all county parks are closed Monday. The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office will remain open.
In Westmoreland County, the courthouse in Greensburg will be closed Monday, the commissioners decided, after previously announcing a two-hour delay. Courts and public meetings of the county’s retirement board and prison board will be rescheduled.
Brian C. Rittmeyer and Justin Vellucci are TribLive staff writers. Brian can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com, Justin at jvellucci@triblive.com
