A Nor'easter that dumped a mix of wintry precipitation in the region made for slow driving conditions Wednesday.
Snow started falling in Northumberland County around noon, dropping around 1 1/2 inches before quickly changing to sleet. A mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain continued through the evening before tapering off to showers early this morning.
PennDOT crews were prepared for the storm and hit area roads in full-force at noon Wednesday, according to David Thompson, safety press officer for District 3-0, which consists of nine counties including Northumberland and Columbia.
"We are at full-court press as the district is concerned," he said Wednesday afternoon. "We put crews in 12-hour shifts."
Although Thompson did not have an exact number of trucks that were available during the storm, he said most of their 481 permanent and 57 temporary winter truck operators were prepared to work.
Near Herndon, rain had melted most of the snowfall by Wednesday evening.
Incident command center
The district's mobile incident command center also went operational at 8 a.m. Wednesday. The center, located at the district's headquarters in Montoursville, provided personnel access to essential information, such as road conditions and road crew activities.
Thompson urged residents to stay home unless absolutely necessary.
"I can't stress enough to the traveling public that if you can stay off the roads, please stay off them. This keeps our road crews safe and allows them to do their job without restrictions," Thompson said during the onset of the storm. "If you have to go out, drive for conditions and increase the distance between cars."
Accidents
Some motorists took heed to Thompson's advice Wednesday; however, several accidents were still reported in the area, including one on Route 487 between J&D Campground and Knoebels Park Drive in Locust Township.
Patrolman Nicholas Thorpe of Locust Township Police Department said a silver Dodge Stratus, driven by a 17-year-old male from Catawissa, began to spin while driving south. A white Ford Ranger driven by an unnamed 20-year-old Elysburg male was following the Stratus and slid across the center line and hit a telephone pole on the northbound shoulder, Thorpe said. The Stratus crashed into and slid up onto a guard rail on the southbound shoulder, he said.
The driver of the Stratus was not injured, he said.
Thorpe said the driver of the Ranger was taken by ambulance to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, where he was treated for minor facial injuries from airbag deployment and flying debris.
Also assisting at the scene was Catawissa Fire Company and an ambulance crew from Elysburg Fire Company.