Slick Roads, Multiple Crashes Reported Due To Passing Snow Showers
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Passing snow showers turned many local roads into a complete mess for the Tuesday morning commute.
Weakly at first and then with a road-covering vengeance, the snow arrived just after 4 a.m., catching everyone off-guard.
"It was a difficult scenario to forecast this morning because there was really not a lot of moisture left after yesterday's cold front," said Tim Axford, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
But a weak wave behind the front gathered up what moisture it could and squeezed it out as snow over the heart of Allegheny and Butler counties.
"We didn't get a lot of snow, but we got a pretty high impact snow," said Axford.
PennDOT got caught with its normal fleet of 30 trucks for Allegheny County, rather than a storm level of 60 to 80.
"We reassigned trucks to certain areas once we realized the snow was concentrated in certain areas," said PennDOT District 11 spokesman Steve Cowan.
But by then, the hardest hit area near McKnight Road and the Parkway North was covered in snow and more.
"What happened was, the snow fell on the surface, kind of melted and then with the unusually cold surfaces, it was able to refreeze on the surfaces," said Cowan.
And traffic was at a standstill.
"I sat in traffic for about 45 minutes," said one driver.
That was one of the shorter times as the Parkways all saw issues and accidents were aplenty.
"It took forever, like an hour and a half to get here," said Geetha Rayarao, of the North Hills. "Normally, it takes about 20 minutes."
"It's surprising, and we had such beautiful weather the week before," said Morgan Whiteley, of Ross Township.
There were accidents elsewhere as well.
In Pittsburgh, part of the Boulevard of the Allies was also shut down because of an accident. A tractor-trailer carrying several cars jackknifed.
For safety, the road was shut down between UPMC Mercy Hospital and the Liberty Bridge. There were no reported injuries at that location.
However, several people were injured in crashes along Route 22 eastbound near Weirton.
Ambulances, two medical helicopters and other emergency crews responded to the scene.
At least seven vehicles were involved.
Ironically, the width of the storm was only about six to eight miles and struck right through the core of the county, so a lot of folks were saying snow, what snow?
But anyone headed to PNC Park tonight will be feeling the cold, and the Pirates are telling fans to bundle up because it's play ball.
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