Icy weather prompts I-80 and airport closures in Pa.

Icy weather prompts I-80 and airport closures in Pa.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Icy conditions spawned numerous crashes, prompted interstate closures and speed limit reductions and triggered the brief shutdown of an eastern Pennsylvania airport today, authorities said.

The National Weather Service issued freezing rain advisories for portions of central and eastern Pennsylvania, later canceling it for many areas where the temperature warmed enough to produce only rain.

But the Reading Regional Airport had to close for 10 to 15 minutes when airport manager Terry Sroka said the icy conditions meant “braking action was nil” on the runways.

Crashes prompted state transportation officials to close Interstate 80 in two places, a 10-mile stretch in western Pennsylvania and a seven-mile stretch of westbound lanes in central Pennsylvania. Officials said one chain-reaction crash involved an estimated 50 vehicles. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries. Speed limits were reduced to 45 mph in several counties on I-80 and I-99.