“Winter weather advisory: icy roads, 1-3 inches of snow”

Winter weather advisory: icy roads, 1-3 inches of snow

Posted: 06 Mar 2011 12:28 PM PST

Concerns over flooding gave way to worries over driving conditions Sunday evening as a day-long rain turned to sleet and roads turned slick.

By 10:30 p.m., many area roads were reported iced up and slippery and reports of crashes on the McDade Expressway, in Dickson City and Archbald and on Interstates 81 and 84 all came in within an hour of each other.

State police in Gibson and Tunkhannock girded early in the evening for crash calls as forecasts called for several inches of snow or wintry mix in the areas they cover.

At 5:30 p.m. first responders reached a car that drove into a guardrail on Interstate 81 north near Scott Road. About three hours later a few miles north, two cars crashed on the slick roads. At 9, a vehicle rolled over in the same stretch where Interstate 81 climbs into higher elevations. Vehicles also slid off the road on Interstate 81 through Susquehanna County, communications officials there said. By 10, conditions worsened in valley areas, contributing to a rash of crashes.

Earlier in the day, with the earth already saturated from melting snowcover, falling water had nowhere to go. It collected on roadways and at curbs where debris-filled storm sewers backed up, unable to handle the volume of water. While some culverts filled up and curbs overflowed, few roads flooded.

One that did was State Route 706 outside Montrose in Susquehanna County, which was impassable, with about a foot of water blocking it for much of the evening. Flooding also was reported on Parker Street in Scranton and other low-lying areas in the city.

Lackawanna County Emergency Management Director Bob Flanagan was keeping an eye on the river and stream levels into Sunday night. The changeover from rain to sleet and snow helped keep river and stream levels from rising any higher as precipitation accumulated on top of the ground, rather than going directly into it and area waterways.

"With the changeover, we may not have a serious problem with flooding," Mr. Flanagan said about 8 p.m.

Mr. Flanagan noted that the old flood stages of between 6 and 7 feet at the Lackawanna River gauge in Scranton now have little relevance.

Sunday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Lackawanna near Parker Street in Scranton. Mr. Flanagan said there really wasn't a cause for worry. With the completion of flood control projects in Scranton, he said, local and federal officials need to revise the flood stage to reflect the completed levy system.

PPL's website showed levels at Lake Wallenpaupack at 1,181.5 feet - the target level for the man-made lake this time of year. Susquehanna County communications officials reported no concerns over water levels at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-managed Stillwater Dam, which controls the flow of water in the Lackawanna River. The Delaware River was at 8.8 feet at Matamoras/Port Jervis at 9:30 p.m. and was expected to stay well below flood stage, which is 18 feet, according to the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service website.

The day's rains did cause headaches for many area residents. Area fire departments, including Carbondale's and Moosic's, were fighting water instead of fires, as they were called out to pump out flooded basements.

Throughout the night winds were expected to gust to near 30 mph and cause scattered power outages. There were no power outages in Lackawanna County at 10:45 p.m. Sunday, but Luzerne County had 603 customers out and Pike County had 45, according to PPL's website.

A winter weather advisory remained in effect for most of the area until 7 a.m. today. Some area residents could be waking up to 3 to 6 inches of snow accumulation, said Carl Erickson, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather. Temperatures in the mid-30s will cut that down, but temps into the teens tonight could freeze ponding water and create slippery conditions for drivers, Mr. Erickson said.

Meanwhile, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport canceled today's US Airways 6 and 7:30 a.m. flights to Philadelphia due to weather conditions. A few schools and area colleges began reporting delayed starts and compressed schedules for this morning.

Erin Moody, staff writer, contributed to this story.

Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com

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