Pocono News Section

March Storm Brings Snow, Wind & Lots of Cold

March Storm Brings Snow, Wind & Lots of Cold - Monday, March 2, 2009 at 5:42PM EST

NORTHEASTERN PA- It looked like a blizzard around midday Monday in parts of the Poconos. Drivers along Route 115 found conditions that went from bad to worse.
Tony Chopyak of Archbald said, "A lot of accidents, people in the median. As soon as I got off the Blakeslee exit down here there was a car on the side of the road with the state troopers, ambulance, everything. Quite a few accidents so far."

One of those accidents had state police busy trying to figure out just what started a multi-car crash in Carbon County. Traffic was detoured off of Interstate 80 westbound for more than 3 hours in Kidder Township.

Two tractor trailers crashed, spilling a load of orange juice all over. Two drivers were taken to the hospital.

Also in Carbon County a woman was lucky to walk away from a one-car crash along Route 903 in Penn Forest Township. She wrapped her car around a tree after losing control on the snow-covered road.

Other drivers fared much better, thanks to 4-wheel drive. Ed Boerner of Blakeslee said, "It's a little slippery but I have 4-wheel drive so it's not that bad."

Even though the sun came out in the afternoon the road conditions were still poor because of the strong gusty winds. As soon as PennDOT went by the wind blew the snow right back onto it.

Tony Chopyak was trying to finish his deliveries as fast as possible, knowing his trip home was going to be a long one. When asked how his delivery truck handled the snow, he said, “Bad. Not good at all. And I'm empty now so that makes it a lot worse."

Rural areas like Sterling Township in Wayne County were hit with blowing and drifting snow. It covered the roads and led to near whiteout conditions Monday morning. It forced schools to close in several areas like Wallenpaupack Area.

The snow kept people in downtown Honesdale busy too. Many spent the morning clearing the snow, then clearing their sidewalks again because of the wind.

It was also slow going in Schuykill County. Eyewitness News checked out Broad Street in Tamaqua. The roads were slippery. Plows tried to keep the road clear but the winds blew the snow back.

It wasn't just tough on drivers, but walkers as well. The combination of the snow, wind and cold made it a difficult Monday at best. The wind and snow made it tough on all kinds of travel. It caused havoc on dozens of flights.

We stopped by the Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport where many flights were delayed because of problems at several major east coast hubs.

Late afternoon flights to and from Philadelphia, Newark, New Jersey and Detroit and Chicago were all delayed. And early evening flights to and from Philadelphia were canceled.