A winter storm is expected to bring snow and a blast of colder temperatures to central Pennsylvania overnight Friday into Saturday.
The National Weather Service at State College has issued a winter storm warning from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday in Centre County.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Paul Walker forecasts 3 to 6 inches of snow for the State College area but some parts of the county could see higher amounts.
“There’s a possibility that some places could get 8, 9 inches of snow where the snow comes down at a higher intensity of 1 to 2 inches per hour for a period,” Walker said.
NWS forecasts 5 to 7 inches for the southern part of the county and 6 to 10 inches in northern Centre County.
Rain on Friday evening will change over to snow as temperatures start to fall during the late night and early morning hours. The heaviest snow is expected during the morning, but some light snow and flurries may linger into the afternoon.
Wet snow early on will give way to drier, more powdery snow as temperatures fall through the 20s on Saturday morning, Walker said.
Gusty winds from the north and northwest may cause blowing and drifting.
“Later tonight into tomorrow morning, with temperatures falling, roads and sidewalks are going to become slippery and disrupt travel, making hazardous travel with this storm,” Walker said. “The blowing and drifting can limit visibility. If you can avoid [travel] that would be great.”
Temperatures will dip into the teens on Saturday night but the blast of cold will be brief, Walker said, rebounding into the 50s on Monday and Tuesday.
Though calendar spring is just around the corner, that doesn’t necessarily mean this will be the region’s last winter storm of the season.
“We’ve seen some pretty good snows in April,” Walker said. “I don’t see anything on the horizon, but I wouldn’t want to promise it would be the last snow.”
Closings, Cancelations and Road Restrictions
• College Township has declared a snow emergency effective at 7 a.m. Saturday. Street parking is not permitted until 48 hours after the snow and/or ice storm has ended and the streets have been cleared of all snow and ice to the edge of the pavement or to the curbs. All sidewalks must be cleared of all snow and ice within 24 hours after the storm has ended.
• Harris Township has declared a snow emergency effective at 7 a.m. Saturday. All vehicles must be removed from public streets by 10 a.m. or will be ticketed. Parking on streets is prohibited until 24 hours after snow has stopped. Public parking for those without off street parking options is available in Nittany View, Blue Spring and Yoder Preserve parks. Those parking areas are not typically plowed.
• Patton Township has declared a snow emergency effective at 7 a.m. on Saturday. All vehicles must be removed from township streets at that time until the snow emergency has ended. Residence and property owners are also reminded that sidewalks must be cleared within 24 hours after the snow has stopped.
• PennDOT plans to implement tier 1 restrictions on the entire length of I-99 and on Interstate 80 from I-79 to I-99 and tier 4 restrictions on I-80 from I-99 to the New Jersey border at 5 a.m. Saturday. Speed limits on both highways as well as Route 322 from I-99 to Perry County are reduced to 45 miles per hour.
Motorists should check 511pa.com for up-to-date road conditions and travel information.
• SAT testing scheduled for Saturday at State College Area High School has been postponed. A make-up date has been tentatively set for March 26, but the College Board will email registered students directly with details.
• Penn State Health Medical Group State College’s Park Avenue Saturday clinic will be virtual appointments only.
• Schlow Centre Region Library is closed on Saturday.
• Discovery Space plans to open at noon on Saturday.
• The Rivet at Discovery Space has canceled youth workshop hours for Saturday.
• The Fire Safety Event scheduled for Saturday at Baileyville Community Hall has been canceled.
• Penn State has canceled on-campus work, except for those designated as performing essential duties to maintain campus operations, and most activities from 5 a.m. Saturday until 5 a.m. Sunday. Intercollegiate Athletics and Bryce Jordan Center events on Saturday will be held as scheduled, including the men’s lacrosse game at noon, the women’s lacrosse game at 3 p.m., the men’s gymnastics meet at 4 p.m. and the Sesame Street Live! shows at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. The lacrosse games will be moved to Holuba Hall.
• Penn State has declared a “midnight clear” at the University Park campus. Parking will be prohibited at all faculty/staff surface parking lots on campus, including Innovation Park, from midnight Friday night through 7 a.m. Saturday morning and from midnight Saturday night through 7 a.m. Sunday morning. The roof levels of all five campus parking decks (East, Eisenhower, HUB, Nittany, West) will close at 7 p.m. on Friday.
