Several Centre Region municipalities have declared snow emergencies and Gov. Tom Wolf announced highway travel restrictions ahead of a major winter storm forecasted for Monday night into Tuesday.
The National Weather Service’s most recent winter storm warning issued late Monday morning calls for 10 to 15 inches of snow for Centre County. The storm is expected to bring heavy snowfall to most of central and eastern Pennsylvania. AccuWeather is predicting about 12 inches of snow for the State College area from Monday night through Tuesday night.
The heaviest snow is expected to occur between Monday night and mid-morning on Tuesday, with additional light snow expected Tuesday afternoon and night.
Snow Emergencies
State College Borough, Harris Township and College Township have all declared snow emergencies.
In State College, all vehicles must be removed from the streets until snowfall has stopped and streets have been plowed to the curb. Downtown parking garages and parking lots remain open and all residents and visitors are encouraged to use the Fraser Street, Pugh Street and Beaver Avenue garages, McAllister Deck or public parking lots.
Cars parked in snow removal zones or in violation of any ordinance may be towed.
The College Township snow emergency is effective immediately and street parking is prohibited until the storm has ended and streets have been cleared.
In Harris Township vehicles must be moved from public streets by midnight or face ticketing. Residents can park on their lawns or in the parking lots of public parks during that time and may again park on the streets 24 hours after the storm has stopped or after the roads have been cleared.
Ferguson Township also reminded residents that when snowfall reaches two inches are more, vehicles cannot be parked on the streets and may be ticketed or towed.
Penn State’s University Park campus has declared a ‘Midnight Clear,’ for midnight Monday to 7 a.m. Tuesday and midnight Tuesday to 7 a.m. Wednesday. Parking will be prohibited in faculty and staff surface lots during those times and overnight parking will be available in campus parking decks. For more details, check here.
Refuse and Recycling Collection
The storm also will impact refuse and recycling collection, according to the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority. For State College, refuse, recycling and organics pick up will be on a one-day delay for the remainder of the week.
For Benner, College and Harris Townships there will be no refuse and recycling collection on Tuesday. Refuse and recycling collected on Tuesdays will be collected on Saturday instead. No other collection days this week are impacted.
Ferguson and Patton Townships are not impacted by the collection changes, according to CCRA.
In Bellefonte, recycling pickup scheduled for Tuesday will be moved to Wednesday. Advanced Disposal customers in Spring and Walker townships with regular Tuesday collection will have pickup moved to Saturday. For Carson Disposal customers, there will be no Tuesday collection and refuse will instead be picked up on Wednesday, with the next recycling pickup on March 21.
The CCRA intends to open the transfer station for normal operating hours on Tuesday, though that could change.
Travel restrictions
Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday signed a Proclamation of Disaster Emergency.
‘This proclamation is not a ‘state of emergency,’ as it does not prohibit vehicular travel on commonwealth roads, but motorists are strongly encouraged to delay all unnecessary travel and heed local road closures that may be in place,’ according to a release. ‘A proclamation ensures emergency resources can be procured as needed and increases protections for consumers from price-gouging.’
Some travel restrictions, however, will be in place. Beginning at 10 p.m. Monday, a 45 miles-per-hour speed limit will be in effect on all interstates and expressways east of and including Interstate-99.
There also will be a ban of ‘tandem truck trailers, empty trailers, towed trailers, buses, recreational vehicles and motorcycles,’ on those highways, according to the governor’s office.
Those restrictions also will be in place on Interstates 70, 76, 78, 80, 81, 83, 84, 283, 176, 180, 476, 380 and all non-Interstate expressways.
The 45 miles-per-hour restriction also will be in place on Route 322 at Seven Mountains and a right lane only truck restriction will be in place on I-80, I-99 and Route 322 at Seven Mountains.
All of PennDOT’s 11 regions will be operating around the clock starting Monday night.
‘PennDOT’s goal is to keep roadways passable and interstates and expressways take priority over lower volume routes,’ according to the release.
PennDOT has 4,800 equipment operators, more than 2,000 plow trucks and 49 snow blowers. The governor’s office said some resources will be redployed to eastern Pennsylvania where the brunt of the storm is expected to hit.
The proclamation of disaster emergency allows state agencies ‘to use all available resources and personnel, as necessary, to cope with the magnitude and severity of this emergency situation,’ according to the release. ‘The time-consuming bidding and contract procedures, as well as other formalities normally prescribed by law, are waived for the duration of the proclamation.’
It also prevents against price gouging of consumers by prohibiting companies from charging prices that exceed 20 percent more than the average price of a good or service over the previous seven days.
Closings, Delays & Postponements
(Check here for updated closing announcements)
– All Centre County school districts will be closed on Tuesday.
– The Nittany Mall will open at 2 p.m. on Tuesday and resume normal hours on Wednesday.
– PennTap’s Facilities Operator Workshop scheduled for Tuesday at the Penn Stater has been postponed to March 27.
– The Penn State softball game against Saint Francis scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed until April 26.
– PIAA basketball playoff games scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday have been postponed until Thursday. State College’s second round game against Butler, originally scheduled for Wednesday, has been changed to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown.
– Penn State’s Faculty Senate meeting scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed until a date to be determined.
– Mount Nittany Health announced several closings for patient care on Tuesday: All Mount Nittany Physician Group practices; lab and imaging services at Mount Nittany Physician Group locations; sleep medicine services at Mount Nittany Health – Sieg Neuroscience Center; Mount Nittany Health Surgical Center; Mount Nittany Health Center for Wound Care; and Mount Nittany Health Pain Management Center.
Mount Nittany Medical Center, including the emergency department, will be open. Lab and imaging services at Mount Nittany Medical Center (1800 E. Park Ave.) also will be open.
– Numerous arrivals and departures at University Park Airport have been canceled Monday night through Tuesday morning
