Brace yourself
There's still three weeks left of autumn. Tell that to Mother Nature.
Brace yourself, the season's first “real” snowfall — not just a passing flurry or two — is on the way. The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh has issued a winter weather advisory for Butler County and parts of Western Pennsylvania from 1 a.m. Tuesday to 7 p.m. Wednesday.
The weather advisory anticipated Monday's intermittent rain would turn to snow late Monday night into Tuesday morning as a slow moving cold weather front creeps in from west to northwest, according to Jason Frazier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. A winter-although-it's-still-fall storm is expected to dump several inches on the county.
“For Butler, (Tuesday) morning is going to be the worst at 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. — that will be the heaviest accumulation of snow. It will be a fairly drawn out event over a 24-hour period with 3 to 5 inches, with possibly more in the northern part of the county,” Frazier said.
Frazier warned people that traveling Tuesday might find the morning and evening commute dangerous.“Take it easy on roads (Tuesday) morning. Slick overpasses and bridges can develop where road temperatures can cool more quickly,” Frazier said.The predicted snowfall, however, is not as bad as when the advisory was first posted Sunday night. The initial forecast was for four to six inches.Monday's rain will transition into snow showers around 8 p.m., with low temperatures around 30 degrees. Snow accumulation of less than one inch is expected Monday night.On Tuesday, the snow really hits, with the high near 32 and west winds of 10 to 14 mph, and gusts as high as 28 mph.The weather service said there will be snow showers overnight Tuesday night, mainly before 1 a.m. Wednesday with a low around 27. The temperature later in the day is to hit 36, with no more snow.
In Butler Township, road crews are preparing for the expected snow with 60 to 70 tons of salt and outfitting some of their trucks with plows, according to David Meeder, the township's director of public works.In total, the township has a dozen employees for the job of snow removal with an equal number of vehicles of varying sizes.“We are fully ready for whatever we get,” Meeder said. “We prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”Meeder said the township is responsible for about 93 miles of road. Because of the forecast, he said, they aren't pretreating roads with salt. Instead, they will begin to treat any roads that accumulate snow.“For a general snowfall, we don't pretreat because it could be hit or miss. We don't want to waste salt — it's at a premium, $75 a ton for salt,” Meeder said. “Winter maintenance is a pretty large hit to the budget every year.”And in Center Township, similar preparations were being made, according to Mike Iscrupe, the township's assistant foreman of the Public Works Road Department.Iscrupe said the township has a crew of six people responsible for 72 miles of road.“It keeps us busy,” Iscrupe said.
He noted that depending on conditions, the crew takes about 2½ to three hours to treat their coverage area and he told people to beware of plow trucks they see during their drive. He advised people not to pass the trucks and to not follow too closely, so that the truck drivers can see them in the rear-view mirrors. He also told people to avoid street parking if they can.Like the rest of the county, Butler and Center townships rely on local law enforcement spotting slick roads that need to be salted.On-duty officers will call the county's 911 operations to report any hazardous conditions and the dispatch will notify the relevant township or authority about the road report, according to Rob McClafferty, 911 coordinator for Butler County.“The system is effective — they're our eyes and ears on the ground to let the road crews know,” McClafferty said. “The decision is always up to the local road crews at the end of the day. They have a better understanding for their area. It's their taxpayers supporting them.”
