PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — For the second time this week, the region is bracing for another round of snow.
The National Weather Service says most of the snow will fall between 1 and 7 a.m., with anywhere from 3 to 6 inches across the Delaware Valley.
With the snowstorm starting overnight, the morning rush could get icy. Drivers should prepare for their commute to be impacted.
“Snow could be falling at a pretty heavy clip pretty quickly — maybe up to an inch an hour, in the overnight hours,” said PennDOT spokesperson Brad Rudolph.
PennDOT crews are prepared with 120,000 tons of salt and more than 400 plow trucks in the region. But with snow possibly falling at an inch an hour, the roads will be icy for hours to come, so some routes may take longer to clear.
“It’s important for motorists to know that the roadway won’t necessarily be free of snow and ice,” said Rudolph. “It’s not going to be bare. Snow is going to be coming out pretty hard overnight, so we’re going to keep the roads passable. We’ll implement speed restrictions if we need to, commercial vehicle restrictions if we need to.
“I’m sure we’ll shift over to plowing operations some time overnight and then just begin pushing back snow for the duration of the storm through the morning rush.”
Road crews in South Jersey are also preparing for the storm, with up to 5 inches of snow accumulation expected. Officials are warning people to stay home if possible, and if you have to be on the roads, be sure to stay six car lengths behind the plow trucks.
The recent incident in Virginia, which left drivers trapped on I-95 in the freezing snow for 24 hours, is a reminder to stay prepared.
“It’s certainly a reminder to carry essentials in your vehicle and count and carry a winter emergency kit and have non-perishable food and water and any kind of medication, blankets, cellphone chargers, things like that. So in case you do get stranded, you never know what’s going to happen in one situation,” Rudolph added.
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