Winter Weather Causes School Delays, Some Power Outages

March showed it could still roar like a lion today as Cranberry residents woke up to a winter wonderland.

The weather also caused a two-hour delay for the Seneca Valley School District. The township pre-school also is running on a modified schedule and trash collection in Cranberry has been delayed by one day.

But, it could have been worse. The area did not get as much snow as expected overnight.

“It looks like it went more north than forecasted. Originally, the weather service was calling for 6 inches,” said Jason Daily, Cranberry’s director of public works. “I think we ended up with 2 inches locally.”

Daily said crews began clearing the roads early Friday morning.

“The roads are in pretty good condition,” he said. “It primarily was wet in some spots. We lucked out I think on what it could have been.”

There were some power outages reported across the area, including the Peters Road corridor in Cranberry. According to the Penn Power website, about 500 customers or less were out in Cranberry, Butler, Evans City, Mars, Prospect, Renfrew and Wexford Friday morning. Power has since been restored.

We’re not out of the woods yet though. More snow is on the way.

According to the National Weather Service, a winter storm warning for heavy snow remains in effect until 7 p.m.

A flood warning also continues for the Ohio River at Pittsburgh until Saturday afternoon. The flood stage is 25 feet and the National Weather Service predicts the river will rise above that stage late this morning. Minor flooding is predicted.

Snow is predicted to be heavy at times today, with accumulations of four to eight inches, according to the weather service.

"Snow density may be the heavy, wet type, hindering removal," the National Weather Service said. "Power outages (are) possible. Wet snow can cling to wires, tree limbs and signs, which can be shaken off and broken by gusty winds."

West winds are expected to reach 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 30 mph, the weather service said, and temperatures will be in the lower 30s.

Visibility will be reduced to nearly zero when the snowfall is heavy.

A winter storm warning for heavy snow means severe winter weather conditions are expected that make travel dangerous.