Icy conditions, messy roadways persist in Centre County after winter storm. What’s next?
It’s time to get out the rock salt because the ice from Thursday’s storm may be here to stay.
Thursday’s storm brought less than 1 inch of snow but 1/4 of an inch of ice, which can cause a lot of issues, said Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist at Accuweather.
According to Kines, conditions on the main roads were improving late Friday morning but the condition of side roads remained poor. Penn State and area school districts announced closures Thursday in anticipation of the winter weather, which also caused some flooding due to ice jams.
The NWS issued a flood advisory through early Friday morning, saying river or stream flows were elevated.
Marsh Creek Road was closed between Howard Divide Road and state Route 150 because of flooding, state Department of Transportation spokesman Tim Nebgen said. The road had not reopened as of 4:10 p.m. Friday.
A sedan crashed into a guardrail about 10:50 p.m. Thursday along the 300 block of the road in Liberty Township, Beech Creek-Blanchard Volunteer Fire Company Chief Jim Watson said Friday.
The vehicle stalled in the water that was heading toward the creek from nearby farm fields and was pushed into the guardrail, Watson said. Nobody was injured.
“It was a dark night with bad conditions,” Watson said. “It was a wrong place at the wrong time kind of thing.”
A second crash was reported about 1:45 p.m. Friday in the same location, according to dispatch reports. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured.
The National Weather Service issued another winter weather advisory through 1 p.m. Friday for slippery road conditions and possibly freezing rain in areas.
“The big issue for people today is chiseling out their driveways, cars or sidewalks because temperatures are now well below freezing and they’re going to stay well below freezing today, tonight and through the day tomorrow,” Kines said.
Kines predicts some ice could melt on Sunday as temperatures rise close to 32 degrees.
Reporter Bret Pallotto contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 12:37 PM.