Ice Storm Impacting Centre County Monday Night and Tuesday Morning

The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning from Monday afternoon through 7 a.m. Tuesday for southern Centre County, including the State College, Bellefonte and Penns Valley areas.

Northern Centre County, meanwhile, is under a winter storm warning until 1 p.m. Tuesday.

“Significant icing” is expected Monday night into Tuesday for the southern part of the county, according to NWS, with ice accumulations between one-quarter and one-half inch as well as an additional 1 to 2 inches of snow and sleet.

Precipitation Monday evening will start as snow and sleet before turning to sleet and freezing rain, then predominantly freezing rain which will last through the night and early morning. Some areas may get warm enough for the precipitation to turn to plain rain by the end of the storm.

“Power outages and tree damage are likely due to the ice,” the warning stated. “Travel could be nearly impossible. The hazardous conditions
could impact the morning commute.”

The northern part of the county is expected to see similar impacts, with 2 to 3 inches of snow and sleet to be accompanied by one-tenth to three-tenths of ice.

Delays, closings and snow emergencies:

• CATA bus service will operate on a delayed schedule on Tuesday, with service starting at approximately 9:30 a.m. Updates on service changes as they occur can be found on the CATA website, on the myStop mobile app, and by contacting CATA’s Customer Service Center at (814) 238-2282.
  
• State College Area School District is closed on Tuesday. The school day will be made up on June 4.
  
• Bald Eagle Area, Bellefonte Area and Penns Valley Area schools are closed and students have flexible instruction days.
  
• Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District has a two-hour delay.
  
• Penn State has canceled on-campus work, in-person classes and other in-person activities at the University Park campus through 10 a.m. Tuesday. Details on remote and hybrid course options during cancelation periods are available here.
  The university also has a “Midnight Clear” in effect, with parking prohibited at all faculty/staff surface parking lots on campus, including Innovation Park, from midnight Monday night through 7 a.m. Tuesday morning. The roof levels of all four campus parking decks (East, Eisenhower, HUB and Nittany) will remain closed until further notice. Designated overnight parking areas are available for faculty/staff and department vehicles.

• Harris Township has declared a snow emergency prohibiting parking on public streets until 24 hours after the snow has ended. Ticketing will begin at 8 p.m. Monday. If there is not 2 or more inches of snow accumulation, no ticketing will occur.

• Penn State Health Medical Group State College locations are operating on virtual visits only for morning appointments on Tuesday. Afternoon in-person appointments will continue as scheduled.