PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It's a dramatic difference this year compared to last. The region had basically no winter storms in 2020, but now, they're back-to-back.
Winter weather is causing icy conditions, so people are shuffling instead of walking and loading up on rock salt and ice melt.
With temperatures rising above freezing and the ice melting, conditions on both the roads and sidewalks have slowly improved. That's the good news. The bad news, said NBC10 First Alert meteorologist Krystal Klei, is more icy weather in the forecast.
"Later in the afternoon into Monday night, our next wintry storm moves in. A mix of ice is possible Monday evening, but that will flip over to rain as we go into your Tuesday," she said.
An ice storm warning takes effect 6 p.m. Monday and lasts through Tuesday at 10 a.m., according to the latest report from the National Weather Service. A winter weather advisory remains in effect until Tuesday morning.
Gov. Phil Murphy said while South Jersey is not expected to get hit as hard as North Jersey, this is going to be a "whole state storm" and everyone should be prepared.
"Biggest concerns, again, more north than south. But for everybody the commute tonight and tomorrow morning, obviously benefit from being a holiday today. And downed power lines and power outages, which are a big concern especially in the areas that get an ice accumulation and some high winds to boot," Murphy said.
Meanwhile, people were dealing with Mother Nature, like Shaquan in Philadelphia. "Usually it would take me less than five minutes. I feel like I've been outside for a whole episode of 'Scrubs' or something."
Others, like Manny Castro in Bucks County, were preparing for more icy weather. Castro didn't take any chances. He came and got another bag of salt, mainly because of his street.
"It's like a U and a turn starts where my house is, and I don't want no uninvited guests pulling up in my lawn, so I think the smart thing to do is throw some salt out in front of the street as well," he said.
Sarah Crake gave some advice for people taking the sidewalk in slick conditions. "If you've got spikes from maybe a high school track day, that's what you should bring," she suggested.
Big box stores that spoke with KYW Newsradio said they have plenty of salt. It's a good thing too, as we could be dealing with even more bad weather later in the week.
Icy weather keeping road crews busy
PennDOT spokesperson Chelsea Lacey-Mabe said when it comes to the refreezing of ice on the roads, it's a very fluid situation they are continually adjusting to.
"We're following the forecast closely and making adjustments as necessary," she said. "If the conditions warrant, we may also impose vehicle restrictions."
Lacey-Mabe said their workers will be out salting and clearing roads, with the goal of preventing a refreeze and keeping them as drivable as possible.
"We have trucks scheduled overnight. We have a full callout of our state trucks, and if it gets really bad, we have the availability of contractor trucks to bring in as backup," she detailed.
Even though there have been a number of heavy snowfalls and ice storms over the past few weeks, Lacey-Mabe said they're well-equipped to handle whatever Mother Nature throws at them.
"We've used more than 40,000 tons of salt, and we still have more than 85,000 tons available on hand, and we have the capability to order more," she said.
Still, Lacey-Mabe suggested those who can telecommute from home Monday do so. However, she added if you must get on the roads, slow down, and give their salt trucks some distance.
There's also a concern that the ice could take down trees or power lines, so officials say to be prepared for outages. They advise charging your phone ahead of time in case you need it during an emergency.
