NEPA spared significant snow, but cancellations ruled the day

Kevin Carroll, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read

Jan. 25—While most of the Wyoming Valley was spared from significant snow totals and hazardous conditions after Wednesday morning's snowfall, many events around Luzerne County were still canceled or moved back out of an abundance of caution.

The National Weather Service's winter weather advisory for the county was set to expire at 10 p.m. Wednesday night, with the last of the snow falling around 3 p.m. before turning into rain for much of the evening. Speed restrictions on Interstates 80 and 81 were lifted at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

WBRE/WYOU Chief Meteorologist Josh Hodell said Wednesday that the storm had played out pretty much as planned.

"It's behaving as expected," Hodell said. "The valleys ended up with what we expected ... we're still waiting on some higher elevation amounts, but perhaps, they're a touch on the lower side."

In anticipation of the storm, several events including board meetings, sporting events and other scheduled happenings were pushed back to a later date.

A scheduled 11 a.m. press conference outside the Luzerne County Courthouse featuring Pennsylvania's acting attorney general Michelle Henry was postponed.

The conference, also featuring Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, Wilkes-Barre City police chief Joe Coffay and SCA Administrator Ryan Hogan from the Luzerne and Wyoming counties Drug and Alcohol program, was planned to announce the expansion of the state's Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative (LETI) in Luzerne County.

PA LETI is a law enforcement-led treatment initiative that will allow Pennsylvanians in Luzerne County seeking treatment for substance use disorder to use their local law enforcement, county officials, and community stakeholders, to contact the Luzerne-Wyoming Drug and Alcohol Single County Authority for treatment services without the threat of arrest.

Sanguedolce said Wednesday that the press conference would be rescheduled, but a date had not yet been confirmed.

Also postponed from Wednesday was Wilkes University's planned Australia Day celebration for the school's students, faculty and staff. The celebration will be hosted by Wilkes president Dr. Greg Cant and his wife Angela — both native Australians — and has been rescheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. in the Miller Room, on the second floor of the Henry Student Center.

Northwest Area's school board meeting was pushed from Wednesday evening to Thursday at 7 p.m. in the high school library, according to an alert on the school district's website.

Wednesday's local sports schedule was wiped out due to the weather, as well.