Snow squalls could turn good roads bad for evening commute, forecasters say

A series of expected snow squalls is threatening to make the Friday evening commute a little more difficult, according to the National Weather Service.

The NWS’ winter weather advisory is forecasting between 1 and 3 inches of snow between now and Saturday morning, and meteorologist Rich Redmond said up to 2 inches of it may come from snow squalls that began early Friday afternoon.

“The biggest concern, because of rush hour, is that the squalls will cause a lot of problems on the roads,” Redmond said. “The roads are in good shape, but these squalls could cause snow-covered roads and visibility problems quickly.”

Redmond said lake-effect snow from the northwest will eventually set up bands as it moves eastward, but it’s difficult to predict where precisely that will be.

“Some locations will get hit harder than others, which is why we have the sort of broad advisory right now,” he said. “Once those bands set up, those areas could see lake-effect snow into Saturday morning.”

The current NWS squall advisory was set to expire at 4 p.m. Around 3:30 p.m., NWS was tracking a squall line nearly 75 miles long which had formed between Delmont and Reynoldsville, Jefferson County, moving at 3o mph.

The NWS winter weather advisory is in effect until 10 a.m. Saturday morning.