PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Saturday was a cold, wet, gray and snowy day in greater Philadelphia, as the region coped with its first winter storm of the new year. It was also the first to deliver any appreciable snowfall in nearly two years. Still, it was brief and gave way mostly to a slushy mess.
Philadelphia saw mostly a bleak, cold rain, but the suburban counties had longer spells of snowfall before the shift to rain.
The National Weather Service said a foot of snow was reported in parts of Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and more than 11 inches reportedly fell in Jim Thorpe. Sussex County in New Jersey had 11 inches.
Winter storm warnings and watches were in effect throughout the Northeast, and icy roads made for hazardous travel as far south as North Carolina. Even as warnings were canceled and highway reduced-speed limits and other restrictions were lifted Sunday, forecasters were still cautioning motorists of spotty freezing rain and black ice that made for hazardous driving in parts of southeast Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey.
“Still, a challenging storm with changing conditions," said PennDOT spokesman Brad Rudolph. "Something drivers need to be careful with. So I certainly recommend checking the conditions before you have to travel."
PennDOT activated some 300 plows and trucks ahead of the storm, Rudolph said. He expected them to be busy well into Sunday, treating and clearing roadways.
“We might have got a little bit lucky compared to other parts of the state, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t slick conditions out there.”
Philadelphia International Airport saw close to 200 delays and 16 cancellations by the end of Saturday. Airport spokeswoman Heather Redfern speculated that the storm was the cause of most of the issues.
“We’re just thankful that it’s not worse. It could be worse," Redfern said, "if this storm had been further south and we got snow.”
Forecasters also warned of another Northeast storm Tuesday into Wednesday that is expected to bring several inches of rain to already saturated ground that could result in some flooding and possibly damaging winds that could topple trees and power lines. The storm could also result in coastal flooding.
Flood watches were declared in portions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware for Tuesday afternoon until 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.