Motorists Battling Snowy Conditions During Holiday Travels
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - If you are among the thousands of travelers trying to get home to family for the holiday, you have your work cut out for you this Thanksgiving Eve. There is snow mixed with rain, dropping temperatures and plenty of salt trucks out on the roads.
People in Somerset and Westmoreland counties started seeing snowflakes early Wednesday morning.
KDKA's Brenda Waters Reports:
"The roads and the people and the time of year with everybody hitting the roads today, it's going to get bad. People are in a hurry," said Dan Patterson, a holiday traveler.
Some areas of Pennsylvania could get up to a foot of snow by the time the storm is done.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike said it expects 500,000 travelers today alone and 2.7 million over the Thanksgiving weekend.
There were planes moving around Pittsburgh International Airport Wednesday, flights coming and going. But going east was troublesome.
KDKA's John Shumway Reports:
"It's very important," said Ilene Dorman, of Upper St. Clair. "Our girls live in New York and New Jersey, and we only see them two or three times a year."
In addition to New York, some flights in and out of Philadelphia, Boston and Hartford had to be delayed or canceled.
Back out on the roads, the persistent snow through the midday hours made things a bit slushy, but manageable for the crews throughout the region.
"There is a lot more traffic out on the road today," said PennDOT's Allegheny County Manager Angelo Pampena. "People moving around, getting ready for the holiday, and we're trying to stay ahead of it to keep the roads safe for them."
Highway driving was, for the most part, just wet, and holiday drivers were insistent on getting there, whatever Mother Nature had in store.
KDKA's John Shumway Reports:
This morning, many Thanksgiving holiday travelers started their journey.
"We left really early. So, we're just trying to get through the storm, get there as quick as possible. It's a nine-hour trip," Poorni Walworth said.
Those on the roads are trying to navigate through some treacherous conditions.
"It was snowing really bad on the other side of Breezewood across the mountain, really big thick heavy snowflakes, really slushy roads. Hair-raising enough that we almost turned around," Rob Hillard, from Fredrick, Maryland, said.
Snowfall to the east had Gloria Anderson and her family - traveling from Delaware to Ohio - dealing with some tense moments.
"Harrisburg, coming through the roads were slippery we had to slow up a little bit, icy and it wasn't that good of a commute, but we prayed up a bit, pray on right on through it," she said.
KDKA's Christine D'Antonio Reports:
Crews were out salting the roads and will continue to do so as they work to stay ahead of the storm.
As always, drivers are being asked to use common sense when it comes to driving in inclement weather.
If you're looking for updated road conditions there's an app for that.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike has a special app that provides updates on the conditions. You can also sign up to receive email and text notifications.
For more information about how to sign up for alerts and the app, visit the Pennsylvania Turnpike's website here: http://www.paturnpike.com/member/trip.aspx
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