By Tom Yerace

Published: Saturday, December 29, 2012, 11:29 p.m.
Updated: Thursday, January 3, 2013

It was hard to find white not only on Christmas but on any day last December.

What the month lacked in 2011, it has already more than made up for in 2012, according to the National Weather Service.

With Saturday's snow, 11.7 inches has fallen this month in the region, said Rihaan Gangat, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Pittsburgh.

Compared to last December, when only 1.2 inches of snow fell, it's a virtual white-out.

And there should be even more on the ground by this afternoon, he said, with snow showers to drop an added 1 to 1.5 inches of lake-effect snow in the region.

Gangat said that most of the region received between 4 and 5.5 inches of snow from early Saturday through noon. Initial forecasts called for an inch to fall in the early morning with 1 to 3 inches more later. But he said an expected pause never happened.

“It kept on going, and I think it lowered in intensity around 11 a.m. or 12 p.m.” Gangat said.

A check with the area's emergency dispatching centers found no serious accidents resulted from the snowfall.

“We've just had some minor vehicle accidents, vehicles getting stuck, really nothing,” said a supervisor at Armstrong County 911 who declined to give her name.

Marissa Williams, a supervisor for Allegheny County 911, said that by about 2:30 p.m. most of the roads around the county were slushy but not a problem.

“Calls are steady, requests for streets to be plowed, neighbors throwing snow on other people's walks, things like that,” Williams said.

The 911 centers in Westmoreland and Butler counties reported similar road conditions.

Also about mid-afternoon, Trooper Michael Sweeney of the Kiski Valley state police station in Washington Township said, “We've had no complaints about them, the main roads are good to go.”

“We've had a lot of cars stuck but not many accidents,” said Trooper Eric Maurer of the Kittanning state police station.

Gangat said there is a chance of snow on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day but that it is hard to say how much at this point.

However, he said the temperatures will be lower.

“The really cold air comes in Sunday night,” Gangat said. “We are forecasting temperatures around 20 degrees for the minimum Sunday night and the high would be just below freezing.

“As for the rest of the week, we're looking at low temperatures down into the teens and high temperatures of up in the 20s. So, a lot of this stuff probably is not going to melt.

“For some people it might seem like a lot because we had such a mild winter last year, but this is normal,” Gangat observed. “We live in the northeast and it's cold.”

Tom Yerace is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4675 or tyerace@tribweb.com.

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