Scattered snow showers snarl traffic throughout Western Pennsylvania

Sunday’s snowy weather has emergency crews responding to a number of crashes across western Pennsylvania as winter makes a last gasp before spring.

About an inch-and-a-half of snow that began accumulating late Saturday night caused state police to close the Walworth bridge carrying Lincoln Highway over Route 119 in Southwest Greensburg for a little more than 90 minutes on Sunday morning.

PennDOT officials reported multiple crashes beginning around 9 p.m. Saturday night on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I-70 and I-376, including a multi-car crash Sunday morning around 8:15 a.m. that shut down the eastbound lanes of I-70 between the I-79 and Route 135 exits near Washington.

The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather advisory just before 5 a.m. Sunday morning that includes Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, for scattered snow showers that could drop a quick half-inch to an inch of snow in some areas.

“As of 8 a.m., Pittsburgh International Airport had 1.6 inches of snow,” said NWS meteorologist Jason Frazier. “We haven’t gotten a good capture of snow from some the higher elevations in Westmoreland County yet, but we did see 1.7 inches in Ligonier. I think that’s going to be true for most of the lower-elevation areas.”

Frazier said most of the accumulation in the region happened overnight.

The chance of scattered snow showers is expected to drop from 80% during the early part of the day down to 30% this evening, with a partly sunny day and a forecasted high of 29 degrees on Monday.

No additional significant accumulation is expected, according to the National Weather Service.