Overnight snow blankets Pittsburgh region, but commuters spared headaches

Pittsburgh-area residents who woke up to a fresh blanket of snow today as they prepared for the morning commute were met with some good news.

Between 2 and 5 inches of snow fell across the region between Thursday night and early Friday morning, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Frazier.

Main roads in the Pittsburgh area were mostly wet, sparing commuters a travel headache, but some side, neighborhood and rural streets may have been slush- or be snow-covered.

Frazier said warmer road surfaces lessened the impact of the snow, but drivers were being advised to take it slow, exercise extra caution and allow more time.

Frazier said they measured between 3 and 3 1/2 inches of snow at their offices in Moon, and 2 to 3 inches were reported across the Pittsburgh area.

Highest reported totals came from West Virginia, with 4 inches in Brooke County and 5 inches in Little Falls.

Dispatchers in Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler and Westmoreland counties were not reporting any major problems on the roads early Friday morning. There had been one minor crash just before 3 a.m. on Route 228 near Route 8 in Middlesex, Butler County. No injuries were reported, but a utility pole was damaged and caused power outages, a dispatcher said.

Some schools were issuing two-hour delays Friday morning. A list is available at WPXI.

The snow started around 9:30 p.m. Thursday and was done around 1:30 to 2 a.m. Friday, Frazier said. No more accumulating snow is expected; a winter weather advisory that was issued until 9 a.m. was ended early around 5 a.m.

The threat of freezing rain and snow has ended for all but our far southeast areas this morning, though light flurries may linger for a few hours. pic.twitter.com/0lu1XIK2ad

— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) March 1, 2019

More snow is expected Sunday. While the weather service put out a preliminary projection of about 5 inches in the Allegheny County and surrounding area, Frazier said there is a lot of uncertainty over just how much snow the region will get.

The snow is expected to start sometime Sunday morning and will continue into late Sunday night to early Monday morning, he said.

“Keep an eye on the weather,” he said. “There’s still going to be a lot of changes to the forecast amounts as we get closer to the event. Stay tuned for the latest watches and warnings.”