Posted on 03/29/2022 12:02:15 PM PDT by lightman
The snow squalls that caused Monday’s 50-car pileup on Interstate 81 that killed five motorists and injured dozens more literally slipped under the radars of the National Weather Service.
A snow squall caused near white-out conditions around 10:30 a.m. when the first crash took place on I-81 north near mile marker 116 in Foster Township. Drivers told reporters they were blinded and their vehicles knocked around as additional vehicles crashed into them.
The National Weather Service had made no observations of snow squalls in the area of the crash in I-81 until it sent out warnings at 12:15 p.m.-1:30 p.m., 12:48 p.m.-1:45 p.m., 1:29 p.m.-2:45 p.m. and 3:06 p.m.-4:15 p.m., according to David Martin, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.
Snow squalls are a brief, heavy burst of snow that comes along with gusty winds and poor visibility, Martin said.
Squalls are dangerous because they can form in minutes, then dissipate or move along to another place unexpectedly. They are difficult to anticipate, and once they are there, hard to escape, Martin said.
“If there is a gap anywhere in central Pa., it is in Schuylkill County down to Lancaster and Lebanon County. They are the furthest from our radar and Philadelphia’s,” Craig Evanego, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, said.
Because of the curvature of the earth, the National Weather Service’s radar beams are only able to detect weather events higher in the atmosphere above spots far from their towers, Evanego said.
Radar visibility is also more limited in spring because storms tend to be closer to earth. In the summer, weather events are detectable higher up, Martin said.
Snow squall warnings are often given just hours in advance when weather conditions align for their formation, as opposed to winter storm warnings which can be predicted days in advance, according to Martin. Because of that, the most forecasters can often do is predict the conditions for a squall to form, and not the squall itself.
“A squall will be in one location one minute, then 30 minutes later be somewhere else,” Martin said.
Meteorologists and other weather experts took to Twitter Monday and Tuesday to discuss a hole in radar coverage over the area of Schuylkill County where the incident on I-81 occurred.
Jesse Ferrell, a forecaster with AccuWeather, said the pileup on I-81 was in a “radar hole”, and that the lowest scan was at 8,000 feet—above the altitude of the snow squall.
Steven Schultze, an associate professor at University of South Alabama, published a map in 2020 showing spots that could be missed by radar.
Adis Juklo, a meteorologist with ABC 27, shared a forecast map indicating radar showed very little over Pottsville where the I-81 pileup occurred. He called for a Terminal Dopplar Weather Radar to be installed in the area to increase that visibility.
Once squalls are in a forecast, Martin recommended drivers should delay any trips and avoid the roads, if at all possible. Once a driver is on the highway, however, they should get off at the nearest exit, he recommended.
Pulling off onto the shoulder of the interstate is dangerous, according to Martin, because another vehicle might hit yours.
“If you can’t pull off safely, proceed with very much caution and be very careful. Don’t stop in the middle of the road—that can cause major problems,” Martin said.
PennDOT might also use road treatments to help the situation.
“Things can be done—there’s just not a lot of time,” Martin said.
The National Weather Service’s State College office issued 16 squall warnings Monday, one of the highest number of such warnings in the four years they’ve been issued, according to Martin. Snow squalls accounted for 14 warnings during a similar storm on Feb. 19. That 40-car pileup that injured five people also occurred on I-81, about 25 miles northeast of Monday’s pileup but still in Schuylkill County.
“It would be in the top three, if not at the top since we started issuing them,” Evanego said of the snow squall warnings Monday. “It’s definitely one of the most widespread events we’ve issued snow squall warnings for.” Sample HTML block
He ain’t heavy he’s my brother. ;-)
I live 10-15 miles south of where this happened. The area around Pine Grove and Ravine where it happened probably wouldn’t be covered very well by a doppler radar in Middletown (HIA).
ABE would be better, I suppose.
We still need better eyes to the sky for tornado season in the southern tier.
It is very easy to know. You slow down while slightly pumping your brakes, which both warns people behind you and allows you to see just how slick the road is. It shouldn’t look icy, or you already know without pumping the brakes that you have to let off on the accelerator.
For semi drivers, I can’t fathom how stupid they have to be to go full speed into a cloud, knowing they have the greatest death machines on the road with the highest cost.
That idiot obviously could not stop and could not see beyond 1/8 a mile i front of him, yet, he was going 65-70.
You don’t know they were going as fast as you stated. And if they’re suddenly caught in it….the best they can do is ease up and let it slow by friction. Trying to brake could cause big swerving which could take out more than just 1 car (not just the front car) in an instant.
The point is if this happens suddenly you can’t blame them for “going at a high rate”, since they didn’t know this was coming.
Yes, I do.
Watch this video of a trucker in that pile up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU8BnFmEEmQ
Yes, they may have been going a bit fast even when the snow was already on the ground.
OTOH, you cannot simply slow to a Crawl lest you get plowed from behind. Again, low visibility…what are you going to do? Maybe drive off to the shoulder and wait….but still get clear of the car.
There was only one lane open on the highway and it was clear you could not see far. One lane means you are also likely on ice, yourself, if the other lanes are covered.
You go slow and occasionally tap your brakes as you move forward. Ideally, you pull off if you are concerned, but you don’t plow forward at 70 MOH with a full load and not seeing far, while driving on a known icy interstate.
This is not rocket science for anyone from the area, but those on an Interstate are most likely to be from other places.
These people were stupid, especially for the ones who know what to do, and didn’t.
Perhaps, but still cannot verify high speeds like 70. Likewise, this was a dusting so while people may decide to follow the leader, often there is no problem driving the other lane. I’ve driven plenty myself in storms and it takes quite a few inches before giving up driving another lane. It wasn’t “open”, just follow the leader.
It comes on fast. We live in Western Pennsylvania. Several days ago my husband and I were driving home. It was partly sunny to overcast one minute, and a minute later we were hit with a snow squall that greatly lowered our viability. Thank goodness we were following the speed limit and not much traffic. Literally, within a minute or two, it was completely gone and the sun was shining. It came and went so fast and no snow on the ground.
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