How will winter weather affect Centre County travel on Thursday?

A mixture of wet, heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain is headed for the Centre County area Thursday morning and expected to last through Friday morning.

With temperatures projected to be below freezing until Friday afternoon, roads and sidewalks are expected to be slick, and make for dangerous driving conditions.

The snow is expected to start later in the morning Thursday, sometime between 8 and 10 o’clock, past the time most people are headed to work. However, whenever the snow does start might be the most dangerous time for travel, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Paul Walker said.

“It could get pretty messy when the precipitation is initially coming in, depending on how the roads are treated. That continues throughout most of the day,” he said. “It all depends on how much travel is on the roads. Secondary roads that don’t have as much travel could be worse than the main roads.”

According to the National Weather Service, the most hazardous times for motorists will be Thursday afternoon and evening.

Snow and sleet is projected to move in from the south Thursday morning and move north, covering the Centre County region through Friday morning. The heaviest accumulation of snow is expected just north of the Interstate 80 corridor, through Altoona, State College and Williamsport. In Centre County, that means areas like Snow Shoe and Howard could see the most snow accumulation.

NWS is calling for 4-6 inches of snow in State College and the greater Centre County region, while AccuWeather is calling for 2-4.

Those traveling in those areas should prepare for slippery travel and expect delays in their Thursday morning and evening and Friday morning commutes. Heavy and wet snow could also weigh down tree branches and power lines and increase the chance of downed trees and power outages.

About a one-tenth inch of ice accumulation is also expected during the day Thursday, with an additional threat farther east overnight. The heaviest ice accumulation is expected in southern Pennsylvania, and areas south of I-80.

NWS and AccuWeather encourage motorists to keep an emergency preparedness kit in their vehicles of driving in winter weather.

Items to stock include:

• Tire chains
• Jumper cables
• Road salt
• Reflectors
• Emergency flares
• Shovel
• Extra fluids
• Full tank of gas
• Ice scraper and snow brush
• Spare wiper blades
• Cellphone charger
• Mittens, hat, boots and a warm coat
• Blanket
• Flashlight
• Tow rope
• Spare tire

For up-to-date information on road conditions and hazards, visit https://www.511pa.com, or follow @511PAStateColl on Twitter.

This story was originally published November 14, 2018 at 3:40 PM.