Heavy snowfall that began well before dawn is making for difficult roads conditions in Berks and elsewhere in the region, with reports of jackknifed tractor-trailers on major routes.
At about 8:30 a.m., Northern Berks Regional police implored motorists to stay off the roads unless it’s an emergency. In a Facebook post, the department said the Route 61 northbound lanes north of Leesport are blocked by tractor-trailers that cannot make it up the hill toward Shoemakersville.
Downed trees and wires have forced road closures in numerous areas, including a 2-mile stretch of Route 183 between New Shaefferstown Road in Jefferson Township and Lucas Lane in Upper Tulpehocken Township. There were also reports of fallen trees on westbound Interstate 78 near Strausstown.
Earlier, a jackknifed tractor-trailer on Route 222 northbound just before the Route 183 interchange in Bern Township had northbound Route 222 closed at the Route 422 split in Wyomissing for about two hours.
BARTA announced this morning that it was suspending bus service at 8 a.m. until conditions improve.
PennDOT is urging motorists to avoid unnecessary travel, but those who must head out will see speeds reduced to 45 mph on interstates, including I-78 in Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties, and I-176 in Berks.
Area schools are closed or implementing flexible instruction protocols.
Berks County government offices and courts will not open today due to treacherous driving conditions, officials announced about 7:30 a.m. County employees who are authorized for telework should work remotely to the extent they can, they said. County departments with 24/7 operations should follow their established policies and protocols.
Thousands of Met-Ed and PPL Electric Utilities customers in Berks lost power. As of 9:30 a.m., there were 6,000 Met-Ed outages, with the highest concentration in the Boyertown area. PPL reported 1,463 outages, mostly in Heidelberg Township, near Robesonia.
The snow began falling about 4 a.m. in the Reading area, transitioning from rain. The rate of snowfall accelerated over the next few hours, coating trees.
The snowfall is expected to subside by late morning, resulting in about 4 inches of accumulation.
A winter storm warning from the National Weather Service remains in effect throughout the region through 3 p.m. today.
By the afternoon, most roads will likely be cleared of snow because road crews will have plowed for several hours.
A partly sunny afternoon is ahead with a high temperature of 40 degrees, according to AccuWeather.
You will want to clear snow from your vehicles, driveways and sidewalks during the day because overnight temperatures are expected to dip below freezing, hardening the snow.
Source: Berkshire mont