Quick-moving winter storm brings snow to Philadelphia, disrupting travel and schools

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press

A quick moving winter storm that hit the Philadelphia region on Tuesday brought significant snowfall to some areas while others got less than expected. At least one person died in Pennsylvania, accidents were reported on slippery roads, airline flights were canceled or delayed and many school districts closed or switched to remote learning.

Some areas of Pennsylvania and Connecticut were blanketed in 15 inches of fluffy snow, while New York City’s Central Park only saw about 3 inches of slushy snow, according to National Weather Service reports.

There were more than 145,000 power outages reported Tuesday morning in Pennsylvania and several thousand in New Jersey, but few outages in New York and New England, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.

Authorities in Newberry Township, Pennsylvania, said a man operating a snowmobile was killed when he hit a downed utility line around 8 a.m. Tuesday during the storm. The cause and manner of death were pending further investigation.

At the time of the crash, police said in a statement that the area was “experiencing a multitude of weather related conditions due to a winter storm which caused downed trees, downed power lines and hazardous travel conditions throughout the area.”

Robert Bylone, 51, a university research operations manager from Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, was at home around 6 a.m. Tuesday when he heard a “splintering crack” outside his window. A 30-year-old flowering pear tree in his front yard had come down.

“We anticipated a snow storm, and sure enough, we got it,” he said. “But it was quick, very wet with a lot of moisture in the snow. So with that much water in the snow, it was very heavy. Very heavy to pick up, very heavy on the tree branches.“

Throughout the region, officials urged people to take precautions including staying off the roads.

Associated Press writers Bruce Shipkowski in Toms River, New Jersey; Ron Todt in Philadelphia; and Michael Rubinkam in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania; contributed to this report.