Delays Possible for Wednesday

It's a mess out there. The sleet has been falling steadily for several hours now, and the NWS has stated that freezing rain is highly likely for the rest of this evening. Travel right now is doable but not encouraged.

Because the rain fell moderately this afternoon, it pulled cool air downward, which moved the temperature to freezing and even below freezing. For this reason we'll see sleet and freezing rain throughout the night.

The reason we won't have delays across the board for tomorrow morning is that the precipitation is going to let up significantly in the next few hours. There will still be intermittent showers and drizzle throughout the night, and that will lead to slippery roads, but for the most part the heavy stuff has ended. There is one more good band of rain in central New York and north central Pennsylvania that should whack us in a few hours, but then it will be relatively quiet after that.

The delay decision tomorrow all depends on the mindset of your Superintendent tomorrow morning and how well town road crews can keep up. As has been the case with many storms this winter, the higher elevation towns will be the candidates with the greater chance for delays.

As you can see from the 7:00 radar below, there isn't that much organized moisture across New York and Pennsylvania. We need less brown there and more green, pink and blue. The only hope for a delay is that more potent bands of rain and showers form in far western New York and hit us during the sweetspot hour between 5 and 6 AM. Based on the evidence the GSD Staff is compiling, that event is not likely.

The 7:00 PM radar.

Keep your fingers crossed, but most students will have a full day of school tomorrow. A very select few will get to go in two hours late.