Winter storm misses Southwest Pa.

Most of Western Pennsylvania escaped snowfall during the day Saturday as temperatures remained in the 30s and brought steady, sometimes heavy, rains.

The region Is expected to receive 1 to 3 inches of snow overnight as temperatures drop, while northern counties such as Butler and Indiana could get significantly more snow, according to a forecast fromthe National Weather Service.

The state lifted a state of emergency that banned commerical trucks from most state highways from noon Saturday to noon Sunday.

While the winter storm skirted Southwest Pennsylvania on Saturday, it spread snow across other parts of the state and elsewhere in the nation. 

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, forecasters said the storm could bring 1 foot or more to northern areas. The National Weather Service expects accumulations of 12 inches or more north of Interstate 80. Snow accumulations are expected to be lower to the south, where a transition to a wintry mix and then rain is expected and ice accumulation of up to a quarter of an inch is possible.

Forecasters said the threat of flooding increased for the I-95 corridor, where a flood watch is in effect.

And they warn of dangerously cold wind chills in some areas Sunday night into Monday.

In Chicago, a plane carrying 129 people skidded Saturday from a slick runway, and a plow driver was killed when his truck rolled over outside Kansas City following a winter storm that covered many parts of the Midwest in snow and ice.

No injuries were reported on the United Airlines flight at O’Hare International Airport as it arrived Saturday morning from Phoenix, Chicago Fire officials said. The massive storm which dumped 10 inches of snow on some areas in the Midwest prompted the cancellation of nearly 1,000 flights at Chicago’s airports. The average delay at O’Hare was nearly an hour Saturday afternoon.

Kansas Department of Transportation snowplow driver Stephen Windler, 25, died about 6 a.m. Saturday on U.S. Highway 69, according to the Wichita Eagle. A police crash report says his truck “traveled to the right, traversing the shoulder and drove into the grass” before it rolled over. Windler was thrown from the vehicle which landed on top of him.

The storm moved Saturday toward the Northeast and New England. Some northern parts of New England could see up to 18 inches of snow.

A 15-vehicle crash blocked a section of Interstate 55 in southeastern Missouri near Ste. Genevieve on Saturday afternoon and drivers were urged to find an alternative route.

Amtrak canceled some trains Saturday from Chicago to Washington and New York and between New York and Boston and Pennsylvania on Sunday.

In Nebraska, authorities closed Omaha’s Eppley Airfield on Friday after a Southwest Airlines plane slid off an ice-slicked runway. No one was injured. The airfield later reopened.

The snow was part of a wall of hazardous weather that moved from the Dakotas across the Great Lakes states. The storm brought snow, ice and strong winds, followed by deep cold. The highest snowfall totals were expected in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, which could see up to 18 inches.

But some Midwesterners weren’t going to let a winter weather keep them from going outside.

In downtown Detroit, Celeste Tremmel was out training for a marathon amid heavy and steady snowfall.

“When you run a marathon, you run no matter the weather,” said Tremmel, who plans to run a March marathon in South Carolina.

Farther east, the National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., said snow could fall at a rate of 1 to 3 inches an hour, creating “difficult to impossible travel conditions” in areas.

The storm prompted the cancellation of a Special Olympics competition in upstate New York. Nearly 200 athletes from around New York were expected to compete in snowshoeing, snowboarding, cross country, and Nordic and Alpine skiing at West Mountain, outside Glens Falls.