Monday was a day of frantic activity as governments, school districts and agencies preparing for the snow while the forecast remained constantly in flux.
The “historic’ storm that was predicted didn’t amount to much, at least not in the tri-county area.
PennDOT was preparing for the largest fleet of vehicles to be used so far this winter. Public works departments were filling salt trucks. School districts closed and snow emergencies were declared.
Meanwhile the timeline for snow was changing as was the projected amount.
“It’s a dynamic system,” said PennDOT spokesman Gene Blaum. “When we plan for a snowstorm we look at the highest amount of snow that’s going to fall. We don’t know for sure if we’re going to get 8 or 12 or 16 inches. That’s still a lot of snow, so we will have a full call-out.”
PennDOT’s trucks had been out since Sunday, preparing for the first of the back-to-back systems that brought snow to the region. The 394 trucks that had been dispatched to salt and clear roadways overnight were dismissed Monday morning. The lull that lasted much of the day allowed PennDOT to regroup before sending an estimated 430 trucks onto the roads throughout the night and into today.
The inch or so of snow on the roads Monday morning was enough to close or delay many schools throughout the area, including Boyertown, Owen J. Roberts, Daniel Boone and Perkiomen Valley school districts. Others, such as Phoenixville and Pottstown school districts announced early dismissal in anticipation of Monday afternoon’s snow.
Districts were holding out on whether Tuesday would be a snow day.
“There have been some varying forecasts, including anywhere from 4 to 12 inches for our area,” said Michael Christian, superintendent of Owen J. Roberts. “If the majority doesn’t come until the early morning hours we will make the decision then.”
When possible, the district makes the decision the night before, Christian added, to help parents prepare.
Boyertown Superintendent Richard Faidley said the topography of the district makes it especially difficult for school buses to navigate in bad weather.
“Really the decision point is, when you put a school bus on the road, are the children in the school bus going to be safe to transport to school,” Faidley said. “If children are going to be unsafe, we’re not going to create an environment that puts children at risk.”
Snow emergencies were declared Monday for Phoenixville, Spring City, Boyertown, Lower Providence, West Pottsgrove, Royersford and Exeter. The rest of the region was under a winter storm advisory.
Blaum said that PennDOT was already prepared for a multi-day operation.
“Once the snow stops, that doesn’t mean our operation stops. We’ll probably be clearing into Wednesday. We have to keep pushing it back and pushing it back. As the temperature is supposed to drop, we will continue to salt and scrape until it’s off,” he said.
He added a note of caution to the drivers, saying that the rapid pace of the snowfall would make it difficult to keep roads clear.
“When you have a storm that can drop an inch an hour, we want to have as many vehicles on the highway and get those roads plowed as effectively as possible and keep the roads passable,” Blaum said. “If you don’t have to travel, our best advice is don’t.”