Blizzard fails to materialize on the East Coast

To the dismay of students across campus, midterms will likely be given and classes remain on as scheduled today. The storm which, according to some estimates, was supposed to blanket the region with as much as two feet of snow will now dump no more than eight inches before heading out to sea. "We are opening tomorrow as far as I'm concerned," University Executive Vice President John Fry said last night. "If there's any change in conditions, we will obviously change our plans." If forecasters are correct, those conditions will not be met. Reports Saturday night indicated that blizzard-like conditions would prevail through tomorrow. One advisory given by the National Weather Service predicted driving to be "very difficult and dangerous... if not impossible." But the NWS said yesterday that their previous predictions had changed. By Tuesday night, the storm is expected to head off to sea, and between three and eight inches of snow will have fallen, according to NWS forecaster Dean Iovino. "The storm [came] and started pulling in some warmer air we didn't expect," said Iovino, who is with the Mount Holly, N.J. office of the NWS. "It looks like now its going to be rain mixing with sleet and snow into [this] morning and change into all snow." Yesterday, what little snow fell never entirely accumulated on the ground, but kept the city wet. The storm was the same one that plagued the southeastern United States with tornadoes last week. It was expected to hit the city with a force unseen since the blizzard of 1996, which saw over a foot of snow in 36 hours. Concerns about how the storm would affect the Philadelphia area were so great that a snow emergency was issued Saturday night, only to be rescinded yesterday morning. "Right now we're playing it by ear," said Luz Cardenas, spokeswoman for Mayor John Street. "We're fully prepared to get all of our men out there." The Streets Department placed about 500 people on call to salt Philadelphia's streets should icy conditions develop. City officials will be meeting at 7:30 this morning to determine how to handle the developing weather situation. Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation was left in a similar situation of uncertainty. "The forecast is fluctuating so much that our maintenance managers in each of the counties are keeping a close eye on what's happening," said Charles Metzger, spokesman for PennDOT's District Six, which includes the city and its surrounding counties. As of last night, the counties of Berks, Bucks, Chester and Montgomery -- where many Penn professors reside -- were still under a Winter Storm Warning issued by the NWS. "Snowfall totals of one to two feet will be common with locally higher amounts across northeastern Pennsylvania," the NWS statement said. PennDOT, which has 400 trucks available to spread 60,000 tons of salt, is responsible for maintaining clear passage on the state's highways. Last night's traffic conditions remained relatively mild, with a mix of rain and snow continuing throughout yesterday as the temperature remained at 35 degrees for most of the afternoon. But for today, there are some concerns that this afternoon's rush hour out of the city will be either slow-going or extremely dangerous. "Rush hour should be hellacious," said Robert Chartuk, spokesman for the eastern region of the NWS. "Making it back out will be difficult." Precipitation is expected to switch over completely to snow by this afternoon. But even that prediction is uncertain, Chartuk cautioned. "It's a tough call," he said. "We know there's a large storm, [but] predicting that fine line between rain and snow is a little difficult." Cardenas said the city will remained prepared should conditions turn sour. "Our understanding is that the worst of it is not until tomorrow afternoon," she said.

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