Penn is snow white for first time in years

Due to the snowstorm, city schools and businesses were shut down yesterday. Driving snow, stinging freezing rain and roaring winds blew up the East Coast yesterday, covering Philadelphia's streets in white and and canceling classes for the first time in four years. A total of about 12 inches of snow descended upon the city throughout the day and night, while winds gusted to 40 mph, prompting local school and business closings, shutting down city agencies, snowing in many homes and keeping residents off the roads. Executive Vice President John Fry and Provost Robert Barchi made the decision to shut down the University at 6:15 a.m. yesterday morning. With conditions not expected to improve by morning, the city announced last night that all public schools and other city offices would remain closed today. As of early this morning, the University had not decided whether to cancel classes. Fry said the University decided to shut down yesterday for safety reasons. "In my view, it was extremely dangerous to have all our employees driving in, and all the private and public schools were closed at that point," Fry said. The storm was the most powerful to hit the area since a blizzard dropped more than two feet of snow in January 1996." "Its a nor'easter with a capital N. Actually you can capitalize all the letters with this storm," said Jack Boston of AccuWeather, the State College, Pa.-based private weather service. "This is the type of storm we just have to constantly monitor. They kind of tend to have a mind of their own." At noon, a snow emergency was declared for the entire city. Mayor John Street shut down most of City Hall and postponed a speech to the City Council announcing his Fiscal Year 2000 budget. The last time the University had a snow day was during the blizzard of 1996, when Philadelphia was pelted with 31 inches of snow in mid-January. That was also the last significant snowfall to hit the Philadelphia area. Several more inches of snow and freezing rain hit the city yesterday evening, according to National Weather Services spokesman Bob Chartuk. He said that the storm should pass through Philadelphia by midnight, but today will be another chilly day, with high winds and below-freezing temperatures. Despite the critical weather situation however, there were no reports of widespread power outages or other problems with utilities in Philadelphia. While classes were canceled and most University services were suspended, the dining halls stayed open. "Their employees are judged essential employees," Director of College Houses and Academic Services David Brownlee said. And according to Kris Kealey, the manager of Customer Services at the Office of Facilities Services, Steinberg-Dietrich Hall was open, as was the Palestra. But many businesses in University City, including the Penn Bookstore and the Moravian Cafes, were closed due to the inclement weather. "The business of the University went on, but certainly not at the same level as usual," University spokesman Ken Wildes said. According to Franklin-Suber, city workers employed every piece of Philadelphia's street-cleaning equipment all day and night. All major and secondary roads were plowed and salted. Today, the mayor plans to inspect the condition of neighborhoods throughout the city in person, so that he can see how Philadelphia has made it through the snowstorm. The Associated Press contributed to this article.