A winter storm watch is in effect in Centre County. How much snow could we get?

Keep your shovels and boots out this week as Centre County is due for another round of snow.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for Tuesday night through Wednesday evening, warning of heavy snow and gusts of wind up to 40 mph.

Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist at Accuweather, said Monday that Centre County could be in for 3-6 inches of snow on Wednesday. Snow will start late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning before becoming rain on Wednesday afternoon. Kines said the snow will start off powdery but change into slushier, wetter snow as it transitions into rain.

“It looks like a slow go Wednesday morning for those people that have to be out on the road,” Kines said. “It’s not going to be nice.”

Kines suggests shoveling before Thursday night, as temperatures are expected to drop and any snow or slush could freeze overnight.

This season has been light on snowfall, Kines said, except for some storms in late December when Centre County received between 2-4 inches of snow. According to Accuweather, Monday’s snowfall was a total of 3 inches, enough to prompt State College Area, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola area school districts to issue two-hour delays.

“There’s no doubt that at least so far we’ve gotten off easy in the snow department, and the temperature department for that matter,” he said.

Last year State College recorded 31.9 inches of snow, down from an annual average of 43.8, according to the National Weather Service.

This story was originally published January 23, 2023 at 3:05 PM.