Monday morning’s snow was the easy part. Sleet, freezing rain is expected next in Centre County
Gnarly road conditions are expected Tuesday morning with snow, sleet and freezing rain in the forecast.
The National Weather Service on Monday issued a winter weather advisory from 5 p.m. Monday until 11 a.m. Tuesday for all of Centre County. The NWS expects up to one inch of snow, along with a light glaze of ice.
AccuWeather expects about one inch of snow in the State College area and up to three inches of snow in the Philipsburg area, meteorologist Tyler Roys said. About 0.5 inches of ice are possible.
Many Centre County residents were greeted Monday morning by a smattering of light, easy-to-move snow. That likely won’t be the case Tuesday morning, Roys said.
“This will be more of a wet, heavier snow. What we saw this morning was not very conducive to building snowballs or snowmen,” Roys said. “You could’ve got a leaf blower and blown it all away. What’s coming this evening and into tomorrow morning is going to be much heavier.”
Temperatures are expected to be about 30-32 degrees through Tuesday morning. Temperatures should rise to about 35 degrees Tuesday afternoon, Roys said.
Winds are expected to be light and variable.
“Tomorrow morning is going to be very treacherous with the snow, sleet and freezing rain. Any roads that are untreated are going to be very slow-going, especially any hills,” Roys said Monday. “Let’s say you have some errands to do — the later in the day you do that, the better.”
Bellefonte and Bald Eagle Area school districts and St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy canceled all after school activities scheduled to begin after 6 p.m. Monday.
State College Area School District buildings will close at 7 p.m. Monday, though the board of directors meeting will take place as scheduled. The high school choral concert was canceled.
BEA’s varsity and junior varsity boys basketball games scheduled for Monday against Selinsgrove were postponed to Jan. 3. St. Joseph’s girls basketball game was canceled.
Harris Township declared a snow emergency, reminding residents that all vehicles must be removed from municipal streets from midnight Tuesday until the snow has been cleared.
About 3.6 inches of snow have fallen from Nov. 1 through Monday in State College, Roys said. The borough has averaged nearly 46 inches of snow annually since 1893, according to NWS.
But those hoping for a white Christmas will likely have to wait at least one more year.
“It’s not looking likely. It might be on the warmer side of things,” Roys said. “Many locations will probably be seeing green for this Christmas.”
This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 11:40 AM.