Updated thinking on the freezing rain event - 2/19
So a couple of things have changed: temperatures will be colder and the solution looks a bit juicier. Surface temperatures won't rise above freezing until about 9am on Wednesday, and the precipitation will start around 7am, so it appears that there will be a brief period of freezing rain.
(This is just for Berks/Lehigh and points north and west. Lancaster, Chester, Philly, Delaware County, South Jersey - this will just be a bit of plain rain.)
It's going to get down into the mid 20s overnight, so the potential for slippery roadways/sidewalks is going to be greatest between 7am and 9 or 10am.
New school percentages:
Chance of delay Wednesday, 60%
Chance of cancellation Wednesday, 21.775%
Also: thanks to several of my readers who added snow-driving peeves of their own. Robin ranted about the snow mounds at every intersection, particularly in residential areas. A motorist driving a regular-height car cannot see around them, and so must make his or her peace with death before entering blindly into the roadway. Other folks were talking about the insidious narrowing of the streets, and the fact that passing another car on the street is now a nail-biting proposition.
Still haven't heard from any plowers/salters/road crews/township maintenance types/Penndot workers about why the roads are so persistently and pervasively shitful. Talk to me!
And be sure to forward your driving/weather complaints/grievances to me as well...
I am going to collapse into bed now and cough and sniffle until I fall asleep.