With a wintry mix of precipitation creating the potential for a messy morning commute on Tuesday in Centre County, Penn State and most local schools have announced delayed starts.
State College, Bald Eagle, Bellefonte and Penns Valley area school districts will operate on two-hour delays on Tuesday because of predicted icy conditions and planned highway vehicle restrictions, each announced early Monday evening.
Penn State has canceled in-person activities, including classes, and work at the University Park campus from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Only employees designated as performing duties essential to maintaining campus operations should report as scheduled. Penn State baseball also has canceled its home opener scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at Medlar Field against St. John’s.
The National Weather Service at State College issued a winter weather advisory from 4 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday for much of central Pennsylvania, including Centre County.
A mix of freezing rain and snow is expected, with ice accumulations of up to one-tenth of an inch and snow totaling less than an inch.
“Plan on slippery road conditions,” the NWS wrote. “The hazardous conditions could impact the Tuesday morning commute.”
Tier 1 vehicle restrictions will be in place for Interstates 99 and Interstate 80 in Centre and neighboring counties starting at 3 a.m., according to PennDOT. No tractors without trailers, tractors towing empty or lightly loaded trailers, unloaded or lightly loaded box trucks, passenger cars towing trailers, buses, RVs or motorcycles will be permitted. Speed limits will be reduced to 45 mph.
AccuWeather forecasts ice accumulations to begin around 5 a.m. and conclude by 11 a.m. in the State College area.
After starting the day in the upper 20s, temperatures will climb into the mid-to-upper 30s by late afternoon.
A warming trend then kicks off with highs in the low 50s on Wednesday and Thursday, upper 50s on Friday and upper 60s from the weekend into early next week, according to AccuWeather.
