Philadelphia

‘Historic Storm' Drops Nearly 3 Feet of Snow in Pennsylvania, Causes Jersey Shore Flooding

All Philadelphia public and Catholic schools will be closed Tuesday as the entire region continues to dig out of the snow after a historic blizzard dropped a record 30 inches and more to parts of our area. Philadelphia School District administrative offices will be open Tuesday, however.

The post-storm cleanup continues throughout the region. Despite some of the snow melting Monday, cold temperatures overnight will lead to more freezing on roads and dangerous conditions early Tuesday morning. So be careful if you're out walking or driving.

Philadelphia's snow emergency officially ended at 10 p.m. Sunday, meaning cars can once again be parked on snow emergency routes. Officials say cars that were left on snow emergency routes between Friday and Sunday night were likely relocated. If your car was moved, don't call 911, but instead call 215-686-SNOW or the city's 311 system.

The Philly311 contact center opened at 6 a.m. Monday for residents to call for salt and plow requests.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the city would like to get to every street and asked for patience as crews got to smaller streets.

allentown neighborhood snow mayk
NBC10 - Lauren Mayk
More than 30 inches of snow leave neighborhoods in Allentown buried in the wake of the Blizzard of 2016.

The PPA will continue to offer its $5 per day rate for cars already parked in Center City garages that were designated on Friday to help residents displaced by the snow emergency until 7 a.m. Tuesday. The PPA also won't enforce meter or kiosk parking violations Tuesday due to the continued cleanup.

Residents are asked not to park too close to corners as snow plowing and salting equipment require extra room to turn safely.

Philadelphia also canceled its trash and recycling collection Monday due to sanitation trucks being used for plowing. Regular trash collection begins again on Tuesday. The city expects all streets to be passable by the end of the day Wednesday.

THE STORM 

The winter storm moved out of the region around midnight Saturday after dropping more than 30 inches of snow in parts of the area.

A total of 31.9 inches of snow dropped in Allentown, a record for the city, while 22.4 inches dropped in Philadelphia, making it the 4th biggest snowstorm of all time for the city of Brotherly Love.

Along the East Coast, tens of millions of Americans awoke Saturday to heavy snow outside their doorsteps as a mammoth winter storm crawled up the coast, making roads impassable, shutting down mass transit and bringing the Philadelphia region to a near standstill.

Snow fell at more than an inch an hour through the afternoon in the northern suburbs and Lehigh Valley -- dropping up to four inches an hour at one point.

The snowstorm is moving out of the region, leaving Philadelphia streets to be plowed. NBC10’s George Spencer reports with how the streets are looking in South Philadelphia after the Blizzard of 2016.

At least 30 people, including three in Pennsylvania, died during the storm which slammed the east coast. 

NBC10 First Alert Weather meteorologist Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz and the NBC10 First Alert Weather Team warned us about the severity of the snow and flooding for days before the first flakes fell.

The storm blanketed the region with heavy snow and strong winds that led to thousands of power outages throughout the area.

In western Pennsylvania, tour buses and cars -- hundreds in total -- got stranded on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Temple women's gymnastics team was stuck in the snow Saturday for more than 24 hours after their bus was marooned. They finally got out of the snow around 8:30 p.m. and continued their journey home.

In New Jersey, hundreds of motorists hit roads despite warnings, leading to 222 crashes and 868 calls for aid, said New Jersey State Police.

SNOW TOTALS ACROSS THE REGION 

The massive storm brought record storm surges to Cape May, New Jersey and Lewes, Delaware, said Glenn. In several Jersey Shore towns -- including Wildwood and Sea Isle -- conditions went downhill Saturday morning as debris floated along flooded roads. In New Jersey, 40,000 customers were without power at one point Saturday, most of them along the coast.

In Wildwood, the storm surge was higher than the highest high they experienced during Superstorm Sandy, said officials.

NBC10 First Alert Weather meteorologist Bill Henley talks with Tracy Davidson about what’s coming this weekend so that people in the Philadelphia region can prepare.

Wind was a major component of this storm. Blizzards have defined wind (35+ mph), snow and visibility of a 1/4 mile or less.

The brunt of the storm came Saturday making travel difficult if not possible. [[273571721, C]]

The Blizzard Warning lasted until 6 a.m. Sunday for much of the region. While there were slippery spots on roads early Sunday morning due to leftover moisture freezing over, conditions were sunny and breezy with highs in the mid to low 30s throughout the day.

States of emergency were declared in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.

Many local municipalities, including Philly, also declared emergencies. The declaration of a snow emergency in Philadelphia meant all cars parked on snow emergency route had to be moved. A list of the snow emergency routes can be found here.

SEPTA suspended all bus routes and stopped all train services outside of the Market-Frankford and Broad Street subway lines starting at 4 a.m. Saturday. SEPTA resumed partial service Sunday  into Monday.

The Philadelphia International Airport canceled all flights in and out of the airport Saturday. By Sunday, flights were slowly resuming. [[366273321, C]]

On Monday, travel services were resuming across the region. CHECK HERE for details.

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