More wild weather expected on Saturday in Butler County
After the ice accumulation event in Butler County on Thursday morning, another one may not be far behind.
Forecasts for Saturday, Feb. 8, call for a 50% chance of rain and/or snow after 1 p.m., which could possibly turn entirely to snow after 10 p.m. Saturday night. A high near 36 degrees is expected during the day, followed by a low near 25.
Rich Redmond, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, says more ice is possible.
“It would probably start sometime in the afternoon in Butler County,” Redmond said. “Southern Butler County has less of a chance to see the ice than northern Butler County. Generally, areas north of Butler have about a 60-70% chance of some ice Saturday afternoon and evening, and south of Butler it’s about a 30-40% chance of ice.”
Redmond said when all was said and done, Butler County experienced between a glaze to a tenth of an inch of ice between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
“We figured that further north, into Butler County, the temperatures would be colder, and those areas would see the higher amounts of ice accumulation,” Redmond said.
One school district in Butler County, Allegheny-Clarion Valley, closed on Thursday. Eight others — Butler Area, Freeport, Karns City, Knoch, Mars, Moniteau, Seneca Valley, and Slippery Rock — opened on a two-hour delay.
Road crews from the state Department of Transportation moved quickly to pretreat state roads as early as Wednesday afternoon.
Bruce Hartman, an assistant manager for PennDOT District 10’s Butler maintenance office, said there were no crashes or incidents in the area on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, to his knowledge.
