Category: Weather

By Alex Blythe –

On February second, Pennsylvania’s longest living groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, did not see his shadow which means an early spring for Pennsylvania.  However, Lancaster’s own Octorora Orphie hurried into his burrow after reportedly seeing his shadow.

No matter what groundhog is the authority, it sure doesn’t seem like spring is any time soon this week with snow, ice and freezing rain causing delays and cancellations.

Although the break from school was welcomed by many, the spring will not be quite as bright since all the snow days will be made up by missed vacation days this spring.

The district’s built-in snow days will have to be made up March 21, April 21 and also April 25, cutting Easter vacation to just Good Friday and the weekend.

January 26, when secondary reported to school amid unexpected snowfall and elementary was closed, will not have to be made up at the end of the year.

Not everyone could agree on the benefit of missing school on snow days.

Abby Newport, a senior at Penn Manor stated that “I’d rather go to school during snow days, I wanna get out of school as early as possible.”

Senior Mark Curtin wants a longer summer along with junior Gage Karr who is happy the district is replacing vacation days so far, not adding days to the end of the calendar in June.

But senior, Alyssa Jahnke, held the opposite opinion.

“I’d rather stay home during snow days and go at the end of summer,” said Jahnke.

Hopefully the weather will be nicer in the spring months to come.

By Alex Geli and Kendal Phillips –

Delay? Nope.  It’s definitely  got to be closed then, right? Wrong again.

More like a 12:30 early dismissal.

Students all over Susquehanna Valley got a pleasant surprise when they peaked out their window Wednesday morning to find the roads coated with snow already at seven in the morning. Hopes shot up, but when WGAL didn’t show Penn Manor having a delay or closing, those hopes turned into fears.

Drivers were put to the test as they went out onto the snowy roads of Lancaster for the students who did come to school.

“The roads were really dangerous,” said senior Katie Maisel. “We definitely should’ve had off.”

After several students came in a tad later than the normal 7:40 a.m., teachers were sent an email notifying students and faculty that elementary schools in the district were closed and an early dismissal for secondary students was in the works.  The high school followed the early dismissal schedule.

That email was then shared with the slim number of students that took the ride to school, putting a smile on their face knowing that they only have a half day ahead of them.

Some of those smiles, however, were to conceal inner nervousness for the ride when the clock hits twenty after twelve.

“I’m scared to drive home,” said Maisel.

Although weather reports earlier in the week predicted much of the snow that is now falling would be rain or a “wintry mix,” an update on conditions now lists the possibility of six to nine inches of snow for our area.

By Connor Rowe

Word of a so-called blizzard has been circulating the halls of Penn Manor.

Students at Penn Manor have been developing weather reports of their own based on what they heard on the news since last week and have been blowing them out of proportion.

Penn Manor student, Josh Carle said, “We are going to get 4 feet and will be so much that it will cover football fields!”

According to Eric Horst, Millersville University’s meteorologist, the storm will not be developing till Wednesday, but will most likely be arriving with rain that has been developing from the south. The temperature will rise to the upper 30’s making the precipitation difficult to accumulate.

If a delay or closing was to occur it would most likely happen Thursday if the temperature would happen to decline Wednesday night, according to Horst.

There is uncertainty about this arriving storm, but Horst says, “There is potential for a few inches.”

He also stated that there is a 1 and 3 chance of nothing.

As a lottery question on whether we will have a delay or closing this week Horst followed with,”Who knows?”

With snow expected in the forecast, Penn Manor might get a delay of school on Friday. According to Millersville Meteorologist Eric Horst, the snow is expected to start overnight and end in the wee hours of the morning, accumulating 2-5 inches on the ground.

During the day on Friday it will be brisk with high teens through the twenties, and the winds will gust from 15-25 mph, “give or take” stated Horst.

According to WGAL, there will be a winter weather advisory from 7pm tonight continuing until 9am Friday, it may cause traveling difficulties and limited visibility.

“This will be the coldest air of the winter,” expressed Horst. Saturday will have a high around 20 degrees and the wind chill will make it feel like zero.

By Alex Blythe

Set your alarm clocks fifteen minutes early tomorrow, slippery travel may cause some quandaries in the early hours.

A low pressure system is coming from the Midwest with little moisture in the air as another low pressure system strides northward up the East coast carrying a lot a moisture.  These two systems are beginning to collide giving the potential for snow over a vast area.

Light snow will begin around 4 p.m. lasting until about 6 pm when the snow will intensify and larger amounts of snowfall will begin to pile up.  Around midnight, snowfall will slow and soon taper off around 3 a.m., according to Eric Horst, meteorologist at Millersville University.

“I expect two to five inches by the time this event is over with more accumulations further eastward,” said Horst,  “this won’t be a major storm, it’s just moving too quickly for larger amounts of snow.”

Horst gives this storm a 20 percent chance that six to eight inches will be seen and maybe, if the system is too dry, only two inches will accumulate.

Further east, up to a foot or more is expected.  Snow amounts fall the further west you track.

The morning commute will most likely see snow covered secondary roads with wet conditions on the main roads.  Plows will be on the move during this whole storm and being careful is the best bet.

As for the rest of the week, cold temperatures will stick around with wind following the snow storm that may cause some drifting.

Get your snow stuff ready, sledding is a real possibility.

By Cree Bleacher and Kyle Hallett

Waking up tomorrow, turning on the news and seeing that school is canceled due to a lot of snow will be a big disappointment to the students who discover the rumors of snow turned out to be rumors.

According to earth science teacher, David Bender, Penn Manor’s unofficial meteorologist, the district will see a very small amount of snow tomorrow, just a dusting to an inch, if that.

A low pressure system is creeping in from central Canada, carrying with it only little moisture.  The system will pass just south of Pennsylvania towards the coast. Snow will start falling late tonight where only a dusting will be seen, according to Bender.

“The Great Lakes are the only thing fueling this system right now and won’t flare up until it gets to the ocean,” he said.

The system will become a secondary low pressure system when it reaches the ocean where more evaporation will take place and moisture will build up.  This is when it will crank up and most of the snow or snow squalls will come (morning to early afternoon).

“Areas south of the Turnpike will accumulate a dusting to an inch, but when the system becomes a secondary low and there is something like a high pressure system further out in the ocean to block it,” Bender explained, “more snow will be dumped since the low will hang around longer and strengthen.”

The science teacher continued, “I’ll give it a 20 percent chance at the best for this to occur.”

“I don’t expect a delay or an early dismissal tomorrow,” Bender stated.

This snow storm doesn’t seem too promising but the weather coming next week seems to have more activity with a possibility of snow.

Bender explained that when a system starts out west, dips south toward the gulf and starts up the coast, a larger chance of a bigger snowfall will occur. If the system does not travel far enough south, the moisture will gather further north in the Atlantic ocean and miss Pennsylvania as it completes the rotation coming back into the US.

By Cree Bleacher and Kyle Hallett