Shin-deep in snow, Pa. digs out

Associated Press

philadelphia

Pennsylvanians were coping with the aftermath of a major winter storm Friday, digging out from a deep coating of fresh snow while many businesses and schools remained shuttered. More snow was in the forecast.

The National Weather Service said the state’s deepest snow was recorded in the Bedford-Somerset county area, where up to 22 inches fell. More than 20 inches fell in parts of Chester County, west of Philadelphia

Another storm Friday night into today would bring 2 to 4 inches — perhaps 3 to 5 — across southern Pennsylvania, with lesser amounts in the northwest, said Craig Evanego with the National Weather Service.

In Philadelphia, gay-marriage supporters had planned a Valentine’s Day trek to city hall to try to get marriage licenses. But the weather closed city hall, thwarting their plans.

The group includes Bob and Bill Sullivan of Philadelphia, who married when they were living in Vermont in 2009, but lost tax, health and other benefits when they moved back to Pennsylvania, which does not recognize same-sex marriages from other states. The demonstrators will try again Tuesday.

Christopher Ott, a district sales manager for a Philadelphia-based coffee-supply company, rose at 4 a.m. Friday to dig out for the second time in two days, then drove more than 20 miles on snow-packed roads to a company warehouse outside Pottstown — only to find the parking lot still buried in 15 inches of snow.

That was a big problem, because Ott was expecting a tractor-trailer from New Jersey to deliver 24 skids of coffee Friday morning.

Major roadways were generally clear but there were slick conditions, and a multivehicle pileup on the Pennsylvania Turnpike outside Philadelphia occurred just two hours after the turnpike canceled weather-related speed limits.

The Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era reported that the weight of the snow took down a 100-foot section of roof on a hog barn, and some 300 animals had to be moved to another building. Pennlive.com reported the partial collapse of a roof at a maintenance storage facility near Hershey caused about $70,000 in damage, and a roof caved in over the social hall at the Lewisberry Community Fire Co. No injuries were reported.