Alexis Eberz stood along the sideline at the Palestra on Sunday afternoon, dribbling out the final seconds of Archbishop Carroll’s 42-33 Catholic League championship win over Cardinal O’Hara.
Eberz, a senior guard who will play at Villanova next season, threw the ball in the air as time expired and joined her teammates, including her younger twin sisters, Kayla and Kelsey, in celebrating Carroll’s first Catholic League title since 2019 and an undefeated season in league play.
“We had a target on our back, especially being undefeated this year,” Alexis Eberz said. “So, going out, playing our game that we played all year round, it’s amazing.”
All three Eberz sisters shared the court for the first time since Kelsey suffered a knee injury in December 2024, combining for 29 of Carroll’s 42 points.
“Nothing’s changed, you couldn’t even tell,” Kayla Eberz said of her twin sister’s return. “[After] all the stuff she’s been through, she came out and showed who she is.”
Archbishop Carroll’s Alexis Eberz knocks the ball away from Cardinal O’Hara’s Megan Rullo (right) during the Catholic League title game at the Palestra.
Kayla, a sophomore guard, scored 22 points. Alexis, who was named the Catholic League’s MVP this season, added five, and Kelsey, also a guard, added two. All five of Carroll’s starters scored, including nine points from Abbie McFillin, a junior guard.
“I knew that I was probably going to have some opportunities because they were going to be all over the Eberzes,” McFillin said.
Brigidanne Donohue led Cardinal O’Hara with 12 points. Bre Davis scored seven points off the bench for the Lions, while Megan Rullo, a senior who will play at Drexel next season, scored six.
The championship tipped off at 11 a.m., an hour earlier than scheduled. Both the girls’ and boys’ title games were moved up an hour because of the winter storm that was expected to hit the Philadelphia area on Sunday evening.
Carroll jumped out to a 14-7 lead after the first quarter and held a 22-17 advantage at halftime. The Patriots’ lead grew to 13 after three periods. O’Hara outscored Carroll, 11-7, in the fourth quarter, but Carroll’s lead was never threatened.
“You could tell playing against O’Hara that they were done,” McFillin said. “They lost before the fourth quarter even was over.”
Archbishop Carroll’s Alexis Eberz (left) jumps into the arms of her teammates after the final buzzer at the Palestra.
Renie Shields’ Carroll team reached the league’s title game in 2024 and 2025 but lost both times. Sunday’s win gives Shields her second PCL championship in 10 seasons as head coach.
“I’ve been here, but for these guys, it’s their time,” Shields said, gesturing to her players. “It’s not about us, it’s about them. We work so hard so that we can put them in a position where they can succeed.”
Carroll will move on to the PIAA Class 6A state tournament, which will begin on March 6.
Carroll’s seniors, Alexis Eberz and Bridget Grant, already won a PIAA title with the team as freshmen in 2023. But after back-to-back losses in title games at the Palestra, the two players were determined to end their Catholic League careers with a championship.
“Me and Bridget didn’t want to feel that way three years in a row,” Alexis Eberz said. “It’s so surreal, especially when I’m with my sisters.”
The dramatic Olympic gold medal win by the United States men’s hockey team on Sunday, which snapped a 46-year drought for the Americans, will be remembered forever.
But amid the celebrations and flowing tears of joy in Milan after Jack Hughes’ overtime goal against the Canadians, Team USA’s players had one of their fallen teammates at the front of mind.
Former USA Hockey and NHL star Johnny Gaudreau grew up in Salem County and was killed in August 2024 alongside his brother Matthew by an allegedly drunk driver in Oldmans Township, N.J. Gaudreau was supposed to be on this team in Milan skating around with a gold medal around his neck. But as they have all tournament, and in previous ones since his tragic death, Johnny Gaudreau’s former U.S. teammates ensured that he was there in spirit, as captain Auston Matthews and close friends Matthew Tkachuk and Zach Werenski skated around the ice holding up his No. 13 Team USA jersey. Tkachuk and Werenski played with Gaudreau in Calgary and Columbus, respectively.
The moment was especially touching given that Gaudreau’s parents, Guy and Jane, his widow, Meredith, and two of his children, Noa and Johnny Jr., were in the stands Sunday at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. The American players later brought Noa and Johnny Jr. onto the ice to sit in for the team picture alongside their father’s jersey. Werenski and Dylan Larkin held the children during the photo, while Tkachuk held up Gaudreau’s jersey front and center. Sunday, in addition to being the anniversary of the 1980 Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid, was Johnny Jr.’s second birthday.
Gaudreau, who represented Team USA at the 2013 World Junior Championship as well as World Championships in 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2024, is the United States’ all-time leading scorer at World Championships. His mother told reporters in Italy on Friday that playing on this team was their dream.
After Team USA’s win in the semifinals, Larkin, Werenski, and several other teammates spoke about how important Gaudreau was to them and USA Hockey.
“It means everything — we all know he should be here with us,” said Larkin, who played with Gaudreau at multiple World Championships. “He should be with us. We love him, and I like that we continue to think about him and I wouldn’t imagine it any other way.”
Werenski added Friday how excited he was to have Gaudreau’s family in Italy cheering them on: “It’s great having them here, and it’s super special,” Werenski said. “We’re happy that we made it to the gold-medal game so they can watch that and be a part of it. It’s on us to make them proud.”
Gaudreau, who had just turned 31 before his death, racked up 743 points in 763 NHL games across 10-plus seasons, eight plus one game with the Flames and two with the Blue Jackets. He is considered the best hockey player to hail from the Philadelphia/South Jersey area, and his career 0.97 points per game mark in the NHL is the 10th-best all-time among Americans.
The United States’ Dylan Larkin (21) holds Johnny Gaudreau Jr. while posing with teammates after the gold medal victory against Canada.
The former Gloucester Catholic star, who later went on to win an NCAA title and the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey at Boston College, was a seven-time NHL All-Star. His brother Matthew also played at BC and carved out a four-season pro career, reaching as high as the American Hockey League. “Matty” was 29 when he and Johnny, riding bicycles on the night before their sister’s wedding, were run off the road on Aug. 30, 2024.
After the brothers’ deaths, tributes poured in across the hockey world, including in South Jersey and with the Flyers, and across the NHL and beyond. USA Hockey has repeatedly honored Gaudreau’s legacy over the last few years and has made him and his family a constant presence. Gaudreau’s jersey has hung in the locker room at several international tournaments, including this year’s Olympics, while Guy Gaudreau, a longtime coach in South Jersey, has been invited to speak and help coach with Team USA.
“It meant everything,” said Werenski, who assisted on Hughes’ golden goal Sunday. ”This is something John would have been at. And to see his family here supporting us and seeing his kids, bringing them on the ice, we talked about playing for him, making him proud, and I think we did that. Super special to see them and to have kids on the ice, he was a huge part of USA Hockey.”
But sometimes evil is buried deep in the black-and-white paperwork of government bureaucracy.
A once sleepy rural town named Social Circle, Ga. — just over 40 miles east of Atlanta off Interstate 20 — has become the epicenter of the stealthy plan by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to rapidly create an American gulag archipelago of massive former warehouses adapted into detainment camps for arrested immigrants.
The plan to convert a newly built 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse into a concentration camp where as many as 8,500 humans — double the size of the current largest federal prison — would be housed for as long as 60 days (or likely more) has riled up both residents and public officials in a place where 75% voted for Donald Trump in 2024.
The frustrated city manager of Social Circle, which was offered no input as a cash-flush ICE recently bought the spec warehouse for a whopping $128 million, told the Guardian that he’s denying the feds’ request to turn on the public water as they race to open their detention camp there as early as April.
“I told them I’m not going to do it,” Eric Taylor said. “Not until they come and talk to me.”
This is the floor plan for the conversion of a warehouse into an ICE detention facility in Social Circle, Georgia.
But officials in the small town of just 5,000 also did something else that probably raised some hackles at Kristi Noem’s ultrasecretive U.S. Department of Homeland Security. They made public what few documents DHS has so far been willing to share with Social Circle, including its blueprint for what the innards of an American gulag will look like.
Close to two-thirds of the massive, rectangular floor plan is divided into 80 squares separated by narrow corridors, each box with dozens of strike marks. The thousands of marks presumably represent bunk beds, but what they truly signify is human beings.
Based on the most recent statistics, as many as 70% of these arrested and handcuffed immigrants will have committed no crime after entering the United States — day laborers, restaurant workers, or Uber drivers now crammed into a prison camp unlike anything seen on U.S. soil since World War II’s immoral Japanese internment.
The new floor plan raises more questions than it answers. It’s not clear whether the small boxy rooms surrounding the rectangular detention space would be used for recreation, as no recreation space is explicitly marked. There are three cafeteria rooms and a medical space — a necessity in an instant town of 8,500 — yet still room for an indoor gun range where hundreds of guards will hone their shooting skills. Eight rooms are marked as handicap accessible, so there’s that.
This banal blueprint for inhumanity is the embodiment of the notorious words last April from ICE’s acting director, Todd Lyons, who said the Trump regime wants to make deportation “like [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings.” Indeed, the ultimate goal of stacking desperate people in dingy, dehumanizing concrete caverns built for bath mats or pet treats is to force them to abandon their legal right to fight for U.S. asylum and agree to leave the country, bringing Trump closer to his goal of one million deportations every year.
John Miller, an organizer with One Circle Community Coalition, shows a variance request while describing plans to oppose converting a warehouse into an ICE detention facility last month.
“The focus on speed is extremely concerning,” Sari Arvey of Human Rights First’s ICE Flight Monitor told Georgia Public Broadcasting, referring to the goals of getting detainees in and out in 60 days. “If they’re trying to speed up this process even further, it’s only going to extremely exacerbate the due process violations, the separation of families, [and] also conditions in detention centers.”
Online, the blueprint of detainees forced to live in such crammed conditions — a necessity to house 8,500 people in one building, even a warehouse the size of roughly 20 football fields — prompted comparisons to some of the worst of human history. Some on Bluesky linked the Social Circle blueprint to diagrams of tightly packed ships that brought enslaved Africans to America in the 18th century, while others wondered if the boxy quarters would look just like the rows of bunk beds inside Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp.
No one is suggesting ICE is planning anything close to mass extermination, but experts do say floor plans like this are more evidence that what the Trump regime, with its ambitions for a national network of as many as 24 converted warehouses, is racing to create is clearly comparable to history’s worst concentration camps.
In a conversation this weekend with New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie, author Andrea Pitzer of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps called it “the purging of anyone that’s deemed the outsider or the foreigner. It has been weaponized into this much, much more dangerous state. And with the number of detention beds in terms of expansions and the warehousing, the potential for this, we’re really looking at stuff on the scale of the concentration camp systems that most people have heard of.”
As the existence of the ICE detention scheme has become a coast-to-coast controversy, Homeland Security has insisted these sites will be modern, well-run, and humane. “These will not be warehouses — they will be very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards,” DHS said earlier this month.
The problem is that the recent history of ICE has shown its current “modern” detention sites are plagued by squalid conditions and rising rates of infectious disease and premature death. The idea that these same bad actors could achieve humane conditions in much larger, hastily assembled warehouses seems utterly ludicrous.
Earlier this year, Democratic U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney visited an ICE detention center at a Baltimore federal building and reported “horrendous” conditions, with 50 people in a room with “concrete floors, a bench around the perimeter, and a makeshift bathroom in the middle that has minimal privacy.” Detainees recounted sleeping under foil blankets and experiencing hunger and thirst.
Leaked video from ICE detention shows 50 people crammed in cell with no beds or bathrooms—including U.S. citizens.
"They hit his face. They beat him until he can no longer stand."
"They have been here more than ten days without bathing and enduring hunger."
“Our patients are more frightened and sicker than ever,” three Philadelphia physicians who primarily treat immigrant communities wrote in a recent Times guest essay that described a variety of dire problems, including substandard treatment in ICE detention.
One case they described involved a stroke recovery patient who was arrested and detained by ICE for several weeks at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Central Pennsylvania before family members won his release.
“In detention he had missed weeks of medication, and he continues to deal with the undertreated effects of his stroke, which make walking difficult and returning to work impossible,” they wrote. “He told us he struggles to sleep through the night and often feels exhausted and depressed.” Meanwhile, large ICE detention camps in Texas have reported outbreaks of measles and tuberculosis.
The reality of the concentration camps that are planned for Social Circle or Tremont, Pa. — in a site that used to move cheap consumer goods for the now-bankrupt Big Lots — is that they are much more likely to breed disease and human misery than to alleviate them.
It’s not clear how far ICE can get with this scheme. Were ICE successful in its initial $38 billion plan to buy 24 facilities that could house as many as 76,500 detainees, it would need to arrest people in multiple cities on the scale that recently generated a national uproar in just one, Minneapolis. But the exposure of the detention proposal has also caused several planned purchases to collapse. This week, for example, officials in New York state claimed that a large, controversial site in the Hudson Valley town of Chester won’t be happening.
The irony is that what might be described as NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) issues — like not having enough drinking water or sewage treatment capacity for thousands of new arrivals, or the loss of tax revenue from warehouses meant for economic development — are giving permission to weak-kneed politicians afraid of the immigration issue to still oppose these sites without addressing the bigger human rights crisis.
To echo Malcolm X, these monstrosities should be stopped by any means necessary, even if it takes just turning off the water spigot. Still, the biggest reason to be outraged about this scheme for American concentration camps should not be infrastructure, but the rank immorality spelled out in the cold ink of the DHS floor plan.
It’s our challenge as the neighbors and allies of our nation’s immigrant communities to make sure those black marks on a page are never turned into the suffering of actual humans.
MILAN (AP) — No miracle needed. The United States is on top of the hockey world for the first time in nearly a half-century.
Jack Hughes scored in overtime and the U.S. defeated Canada 2-1 in the gold medal final at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday to earn the nation’s third men’s title at the Games and its first since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980 — 46 years to the day of the famous upset over the Soviet Union, too.
Unlike that ragtag group of college kids that pulled off one of the biggest shockers in sports history, the Americans in Milan were a machine that rode goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and a stacked roster full of NHL players through the tournament unbeaten.
“This is all about our country right now,” Hughes said. “I love the USA. I love my teammates. It’s unbelievable. The USA Hockey brotherhood is so strong.”
Hughes’ goal off the rush after a pass from Zach Werenski just 1 minute, 41 seconds into three-on-three overtime, sent players into a wild celebration as Canada’s entire team watched from the bench. Werenski and Matthew Tkachuk, former teammates of Johnny Gaudreau, carried a Gaudreau No. 13 around the ice as the latest tribute to the beloved player who was killed along with his brother in 2024 by an alleged drunk driver while riding his bicycle in South Jersey’s Salem County.
Gaudreau’s parents, Guy and Jane, his widow, Meredith, and their oldest children were in attendance. It was John Jr.’s 2nd birthday.
Hellebuyck was by far the best player on the ice, stopping 41 of the 42 shots he faced as Canada tilted the ice toward him. He made the save of the tournament by getting his stick on the puck on a shot from Devon Toews in the third period, then minutes later denied Macklin Celebrini on a breakaway — something he also did to Connor McDavid earlier.
“Unbelievable game by Hellebuyck,” Hughes said. “He was our best player by a mile.”
It was only fitting the Americans needed to go through Canada, their northern neighbor that beat them at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago and has won every international competition over the past 16 years that featured the world’s best players.
Not anymore.
Winning a fast-paced, riveting game that was full of big hits and plenty of post-whistle altercations, the U.S. got a goal from Matt Boldy 6 minutes in and led until Cale Makar tied it late in the second period. Hellebuyck and the penalty kill were a perfect 18 for 18 at the Olympics.
“I can’t even believe this,” Hughes said. “I mean it’s such an unbelievable game, USA-Canada. Such a good game. There’s so many great players. We’re a great team. That’s exactly how we wanted it to go. We’re underdogs to Canada, [but we] beat them. It could have gone either way.”
The U.S. finally came through after generations of churning out talent from the grassroots level like a production line. All but two of the 25 players on the team went through USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.
That group of 23 includes captain Auston Matthews, the top line of Brady and Matthew Tkachuk and Jack Eichel, and the second set of brothers, Jack and Quinn Hughes. Much of the team played together either at the program, under-18s, the World Junior Championship, or some combination of them.
The U.S. winning silenced criticism of general manager Bill Guerin and his management group choosing a roster full of experienced veteran players to fill specific roles and leaving four of the top 10 American goal scorers in the NHL this season at home. Some decisions were no-doubters, like coach Mike Sullivan giving the net to Hellebuyck, who was the best goalie in the tournament.
Canada, back-to-back Olympic champions in 2010 and ’14 and winners of three of the first five, fell short while playing without injured captain Sidney Crosby. The 38-year-old two-time gold medalist and three-time Stanley Cup champion left the quarterfinal game against Czechia and sat out the semifinal game against Finland.
McDavid, the widely considered best player in the world who wore the “C” in Crosby’s absence, suffered another devastating defeat on the doorstep of a title. He and the Edmonton Oilers have lost to Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final each of the past two years.
WASHINGTON — On another night, the Union might have at least found an equalizer against D.C. United. Even down a man, the attacking substitutions were clearly wearing down D.C.’s defense in the final minutes Saturday.
But there was no equalizer, and when the final whistle blew, the biggest talking point from the Union’s side wasn’t Tai Baribo’s goal against his old team. Or the fact that United looked the most competent they have in years, against a new group of Union players that was further upended when Frankie Westfield was scratched from the lineup just before kickoff.
It wasn’t surprising that Baribo scored, since the “law of the ex” is as strong in soccer as in every other sport. He was polite after the game about the screams he released in the goal celebration, but one word he emphasized got a point across.
“It’s not because of Philly,” he said. “I love Philly, I love the fans, I love the club. But here I celebrate with my club, and I love the club here, and I love the fans here.”
It was even less surprising that the Union player most responsible for the play was Finn Sundstrom, the 19-year-old centerback who got thrown in the deep end at left back in his first MLS game. D.C.’s Gabriel Pirani snatched Sundstrom’s dinner money with a great bit of holdup play before feeding João Peglow to start a three-on-two break that Baribo finished with aplomb.
No, the thing that ended up mattering most was Ezekiel Alladoh’s red card in the 59th minute. The Union’s new record signing was battling for the ball with D.C. centerback Lucas Bartlett near the end line, shoved Bartlett over, then appeared to lean toward him and offer something. After that, as Alladoh walked away, he turned back toward Bartlett, pointed at him, and said a few more words.
The only replay shown on the Apple broadcast was from a camera too far away to make clear exactly what was said. But referee Guido Gonzales Jr. heard it — in part because Audi Field was far from full — and did not hesitate to send Alladoh off.
In a written statement to the pool reporter from Washington’s WTOP radio station after the game, Gonzales said Alladoh “directed an obscene gesture and language” at Bartlett, and was ejected for “offensive, insulting, abusive language/actions.” No further details were given, and it remains to be seen if specifics will be published.
He did say Alladoh was taught during the preseason about MLS’s rules on derogatory speech, as all players and staff are.
“It’s easy when you’re in a classroom and on your zoom and you go through it, and you have a cold drink in your hand, and it’s all good,” Carnell said. “But when it’s the emotions, and there’s fans and everything, under those stress-pressure tests, I would call them, we just have to usher and nurture our guys within that environment. And hopefully they get to a point where they can regulate and then move on from one moment to another play.”
One moment from the aftermath bears highlighting for a positive reason. As a few Union players pleaded their case to Gonzales, Olwethu Makhanya went into the middle of them and pulled Alladoh out, telling him he needed to leave the field no matter what.
“Obviously we didn’t want it to get into our heads,” Makhanya said. “As soon as you realize you’ve got a red card — and he’s a new guy, he doesn’t understand some of the rules — but knowing the rules that as soon as you get a red card, you need to be off the field as soon as possible, that’s why I had to rush to him and try to get him off the field.”
The moment was the latest sign of Makhanya’s growth as a leader on this team.
“He’s leading by doing, he’s leading by talking, and just his professionalism through the preseason,” Carnell said. “You can see a lot of growth from him over the last two months, assuming this role as a leader in that group.”
The Union’s Olwethu Makhanya jumps for a header during the first half.
Why Sundstrom?
It raised a few eyebrows that Carnell turned to Sundstrom when Westfield said he couldn’t play, citing lingering effects of the hamstring tweak he suffered in Trinidad on Wednesday.
Carnell liked Sundstrom’s work in the preseason, and Sundstrom was serviceable in his late-game run at Defence Force. But starting an MLS game is a different beast.
Sundstrom played only the first half Saturday, withdrawn at halftime due to what Carnell said was a swollen ankle. Both Carnell and Japhet Sery Larsen praised Sundstrom’s overall work in the game, but that moment stands above everything else.
“Coming in today, thrown in, I think Finn did quite well,” Sery Larsen said. “He did his best. He was playing out of position as well. … It’s not easy, but we appreciate the job he did.”
Finn Sundstrom on the ball during Saturday’s game.
And for the record, it did not raise eyebrows that Westfield wasn’t fully healthy. Grabbing a hamstring during a game needs little interpretation, even if there isn’t major damage — and even though Carnell said last Thursday that “it should be good.”
Westfield was walking gingerly as he left the Union’s locker room Saturday night. Although he said he’d be fine, his tone of voice gave the rest of the context.
At least help is on the way. The Union’s acquisition of left back Philippe Ndinga is over the line, a source with knowledge of the matter told The Inquirer. It’s just a matter of time until the official announcement, and crucially until Ndinga’s visa paperwork is settled.
Unfortunately, that is not to be taken for granted these days with the Gabon native who plays internationally for Congo — just as it’s unfortunate that the Colombia-born Geiner Martínez also faces visa issues. The club can only hope that both matters are settled quickly, given how much of the process is out of its hands.
Philippe Ndinga (right) is on the way to the Union from Swedish club Degerfors.
At the attacking end
The Union held an 11-7 edge in total shots, and 3-1 in shots on target. But the expected goals sums went 0.91 to 0.41 in D.C.’s favor, and the eye test went United’s way as well until the late stages.
“We won’t get too low on this result, but for sure we understand what teams are expecting against us, and how they’re going to play against us,” Carnell said. “And that’s something for us to be tuned into and dialed into from the very get-go.”
Striker Bruno Damiani was clear-eyed about what didn’t work.
“Mostly we were always playing through the right side, and [D.C.] realized really quick,” he said. “So they [were] in to jump every time the ball went to that side. We created a very predictable attack, and I think that was our mistake.”
Bruno Damiani (center) making a point to teammates on the field.
Damiani did not mention Westfield’s absence from the left side, but the rest of us could guess that it affected the balance. He did praise Cavan Sullivan’s positive contributions as a 70th-minute substitution, with impacts in open play and on a few well-served set pieces.
“I’ve been really, tough with him, because I want him to improve,” Damiani said. “I think he has everything that he needs to have success. … I’m happy that he is improving. I wish he keeps going that way, and maybe scoring a goal or getting more assists will still give more and more confidence to him.”
Collections are suspended Monday and Tuesday, the city announced. As of now, service will resume Wednesday on a two-day delay, with Monday collections picked up Wednesday and subsequent days following the same schedule.
“Mother Nature has spoken again and made it clear that winter is not over,” Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said during an emergency news conference Saturday, declaring a citywide snow emergency beginning 4 p.m Sunday.
The city is also suspending collections in rear driveways for the entire week, due to the possibility of trucks getting stuck in the snow. Residents are asked to set their materials in front of their homes for pickup.
“We do not plow out driveways. It makes it difficult for our trucks to navigate those areas,” said Carlton Williams, the director of the city’s Office of Clean and Green.
Second trash collection is also suspended this week.
Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, and eastern Montgomery Counties, and all of New Jersey and Delaware, are currently under blizzard warnings through 6 p.m. Monday. That’s prompted by forecast wind gusts of up to 45 mph, combined with the heavy snow. The western suburbs are covered by a winter storm warming, with slightly lower wind speeds forecast.
The storm is expected to begin as rain before shifting to snow by midday Sunday. It’s forecast to strengthen overnight, possibly at a rate of more than 2 inches an hour, which would make driving dangerous and nearly impossible.
The last time the city experienced more than two feet of snow was 2010, when nearly 29 inches fell in early February 2010. Over a five-day period, the city was buried under 44 inches of snow, which thankfully isn’t expected this time due to a warm-up in the middle of next week.
This time around, the Jersey Shore is expected to be hit hardest, with snowfall totals in and around Toms River forecast to reach as high as 30 inches.
The National Weather Service puts out forecasts for every few square miles of land in the United States four times a day through a system called the National Digital Forecast Database.
The maps below display that data. Use it to find how much snow is expected anywhere in the eastern United States. It will show the most recent forecast over the next few days.
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As a blizzard expected to dump significant snowfall on the region bore down, school districts across the region made the call: Monday classes are canceled — or shifted to online instruction.
The Philadelphia School District made the call early — on Saturday — calling a virtual instruction day for Monday.
“While we work to the greatest extent possible to keep schools open for in-person learning to accelerate student achievement, we also consider the staff members who are commuting from across the region and keep the safety of students and staff as our top priority,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said in a message to families and staff.
The district gave students one full snow day in January but has no more cushion built into its calendar to meet the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s requirement for 180 instructional days.
Any further inclement weather days will also be virtual learning days, Watlington said.
“After Monday, if schools need to remain closed due to inclement weather, the district will provide an update to parents, guardians and employees regarding remote learning,” Watlington said.
Among other districts that called for no school Monday: Camden, Cherry Hill, Evesham, Moorestown, and Washington Township in New Jersey; and Downington, Lower Merion, and Neshaminy in Pennsylvania.
Central Bucks, Pennsbury, Rose Tree Media, and Upper Darby moved to virtual instruction.
NEW ORLEANS — Bryce McGowens extended his right arm for the “ice in his veins” celebration directly in front of the 76ers’ bench after draining a corner three-pointer as part of the Pelicans’ long-range onslaught.
New Orleans looked like the playoff contender with fresh legs Saturday night at the Smoothie King Center, not the Western Conference bottom-dweller playing short-handed on the second night of a back-to-back. The Pelicans bulldozed the Sixers in the second half of an eventual 126-111 result, handing them their fourth consecutive loss and perhaps their most troubling defeat of the season.
That puts the 30-26 Sixers at an inflection point, and they know it.
Coach Nick Nurse initially called it the “toughest moment of the season, for sure. All year. Without question” during his postgame news conference. And though the visitors’ locker room was not overly tense, panicked, or dejected, veteran wing Kelly Oubre Jr. also offered a blunt assessment of the state of his team and this suddenly teetering season with 26 regular-season games to play.
“I don’t think anything’s funny right now. I don’t think anything is fun,” said Oubre, the New Orleans native who scored 25 points Saturday. “I just hope that we get mad. I think we’ll play better if we’re mad. We’ll play better if we’re desperate.
“I think we’re a little too entitled right now. Teams aren’t going to roll over and let us win any of those games. … We’ve got to whoop them the same way people come into our house and whoop us.”
Perhaps most frustrating for the Sixers is that this skid comes on the heels of what Nurse believes was his team’s best stretch this season — even after starting wing Paul George was abruptly suspended for 25 games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy.
Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan (center right) holds back Sixers forward Dominick Barlow during a scuffle on Saturday in New Orleans.
The Sixers headed West on Feb. 1 for a five-game road trip and won three of their first four matchups. Starting forward Dominick Barlow said “the vibes were great” throughout that jaunt, even with the trade deadline — and the emotional departure of second-year guard Jared McCain — plopped in the middle.
But after a Feb. 8 victory at the Phoenix Suns, the Sixers were blown out at the Portland Trail Blazers and at home against the rival New York Knicks. In their first game after the All-Star break, the Sixers lost to an Atlanta Hawks team that has overhauled its roster and is fighting for a spot in the play-in tournament. Then came Saturday’s defeat to a Pelicans team that entered the game with a 15-42 record, at a rest disadvantage — and set to start veteran center DeAndre Jordan, who had not played since Oct. 29, in a jumbo lineup.
About 90 minutes before tipoff, Nurse vocalized the Sixers’ need to halt this “hiccup.” He also was honest about his team’s inconsistency throughout the season, saying that “we can play at the highest levels. We can play at the lowest levels” regardless of opponent.
“It wouldn’t matter where we were or who we were playing,” Nurse said. “ … We’ve got to get ourselves corrected.”
It would be easy to blame this slide solely on the absence of former MVP Joel Embiid, who has missed all four games with knee and shin issues after a dominant month-plus stretch. These Sixers have resembled the team that rapidly torpedoed when Embiid and George were sidelined for the bulk of last season, with All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey manufacturing points (and playing tons of minutes) but struggling with efficiency while getting swarmed defensively. Maxey totaled 27 points, seven assists, and five steals Saturday, but went 2-of-11 from three-point range and 9-of-23 overall from the floor.
And Saturday night, the 2025-26 Sixers’ most glaring problem arose again.
Tyrese Maxey scored 27 points against the Pelicans, but went 2-of-11 from three-point range and 9-of-23 overall from the floor.
They surrendered 40 points during a dreadful third quarter, swiftly reversing an 11-point advantage early in the frame into an eight-point hole. That deficit continued to balloon to 21 points in the final period, thanks to the Pelicans’ 12-of-20 three-point barrage after the break. The Sixers made only three of their 24 long-range attempts in the second half, providing New Orleans with consistent opportunities to push the ball off misses, penetrate the lane, and kick out to open shooters.
“We just didn’t make any of them, and they made them all,” Nurse said, “It really flipped the game really quickly, and we just could never really get back on track.”
The Sixers exited the All-Star break with a strength of schedule that ranked 23rd out of the NBA’s 30 teams, according to Tankathon. That theoretically should prove beneficial in the Eastern Conference postseason race, where the Sixers entered Sunday in danger of slipping into play-in territory. They were percentage points ahead of the seventh-place Miami Heat (31-27), and a half-game up on the eighth-place Orlando Magic (29-26).
Following Wednesday’s practice, Maxey emphasized that the regular season’s home stretch is when playoff teams “take advantage of whoever they’re playing against.”
“If it’s a team that’s at the bottom of the standings,” Maxey added, “playoff teams normally go out there and handle their business professionally. … It’s time to buckle down. It’s time to go out here and increase our seed, increase the way we’re playing and figure it out, and get ready for this postseason run.”
After Saturday’s failure in that exact scenario, Maxey understood why a reporter circled those words back to him. He stressed that the Sixers must stick together and are the only ones who “can climb ourselves out” of this four-game slump. Barlow cautioned against overreacting, yet acknowledged that “getting a win after each loss becomes harder and harder.” Nurse audibly exhaled as he left the room housing his postgame news conference.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse talks to referee Danielle Scott during Saturday’s loss to the Pelicans.
The beauty (and curse) of the NBA schedule? The Sixers play again Sunday night at the Minnesota Timberwolves, before a Tuesday game against an Indiana Pacers team with the worst record in the Eastern Conference (15-42).
Oubre hopes that, for those matchups, his team plays mad.
“Now is the time to not make any more excuses,” he said. “ … It’s just do-or-die time. It’s time for us to muscle up, put our hard hats on, and actually learn how to win NBA games — and do it efficiently and consistently.”
Snow began falling in Philly early Sunday evening and is expected to continue through Monday afternoon, with the heaviest snowfall overnight into the morning. Here’s the latest map.
A citywide snow emergency is in effect in Philadelphia, while both New Jersey and Delaware have declared a state of emergency.
DoorDash, the food delivery service, has suspended operations in Philadelphia and New Jersey amid the snow storm.
According to a company press release, DoorDash deliveries have ended as of 9 p.m. on Sunday and will not begin again until at least 12 p.m. Monday, depending on conditions at that time.
“We’re suspending operations across impacted areas to keep our community safe,” said company spokesperson, Julian Crowley, in a press release. “This is a serious storm — we’ll resume when it passes.”
At least 15,000 without power across Southern and Central New Jersey
At least 15,000 people were without power in Southern and Central New Jersey on Sunday evening around 8 p.m., according to outage maps from energy providers Jersey Central Power & Light and Atlantic City Electric.
In the Philadelphia area, as snow blanketed the region, roughly 1,500 Peco customers were affected by outages around 7:50 p.m., the company’s outage map indicated. Residents can monitor the company’s outage map to see where an outage has happened and the estimated restoration time.
Residents can receive outage alerts from Peco by texting “ADD OUTAGE” to 697326. To report an outage, text “OUT” to the same number or call 1-800-841-4141 or use the company’s online portal. For downed power lines, call the same number.
PSE&G customers in New Jersey can check the energy company’s outage map. As of 8 p.m., the utility provider had restored service to some 4,600 customers who had lost power on Sunday, according to a company press release. Around 8:50 p.m. nearly 2,800 customers were impacted by outages in the energy provider’s service area which includes parts of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties and stretches up to Newark.
To report an outage or downed line to PSE&G, call 1-800-436-7734. For hazards that result from a downed line, call 911, said Marijke Shugrue, senior director of communications at PSE&G during a virtual press conference on Sunday.
Never use a power generator indoors during an outage, said Shugrue.
Downed power lines can be very dangerous, and people should stay away from them, Shugrue added, advising people not to touch anything that is in contact with that downed line.
If you can smell gas indoors, exit the building, move at least 350 feet away and call 911, said Shugrue. Peco also advises customers to leave the area immediately if gas is suspected. For an emergency related to gas specifically, customers can call Peco at 1-844-841-4151.
Outside homes, snow should be cleared from pipes, vents, and meters so that carbon monoxide doesn’t accumulate inside, PSE&G advises.
SEPTA riders board the 47 bus at 8th and Market Streets in January.
On Sunday evening SEPTA issued updated guidance on available service for the rest of the day.
All SEPTA bus routes will be suspended at 10 p.m. Sunday, the transit agency announced.
Regional Rail trains and the Norristown High Speed Line will operate until the end of scheduled service on Sunday evening.
The Center City Trolley Tunnel will close at 9 p.m. Sunday. Service on trolleys will continue until the scheduled end of service on Sunday evening or until conditions permit it.
The D Line Trolley route is currently being operated by a bus. That service will conclude at 10 p.m. Sunday and the trolley service by train will resume in the morning weather permitting.
An NJ Transit train pulls into the Red Bank station.
NJ Transit will suspend its all rail service by 9 p.m. Sunday, the agency announced in a news release.
Earlier, the transportation agency stopped its bus, light rail, and Access Link services. Trains were initially excluded from the closures, but Gov. Mikie Sherrill warned the shutdown was likely.
Some routes will end service before 9 p.m., but no trains will leave their origin point after 9 p.m. Customers should check the transit authority’s website or social media for updates.
Bands of heavy snow moving across the Philly region
A man rides his scooter along N. 4th Street as snow falls.
Some “bands” of heavy snow were moving across the region Sunday evening, and that is likely to continue through the night, said Nick Guzzo, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.
“Banding,” in which narrow corridors of heavy snow migrate from place to place, are common during winter storms. Areas under the bands can receive a quick couple of inches of snow.
By nightfall some totals of 1 to 2 inches were reported in the Philadelphia area and at the Shore. Forecasters said rates of two inches an hour were possible at times.
Totals are likely to vary around the region, in part to the randomness of banding, said Guzzo.
Banding or not, everyone is going to be seeing a whole lot of snow before it ends Monday, he said.
The weather service is calling for 12-18 inches in the immediate Philadelphia area, with as much as two feet in parts of South Jersey.
Some drifting is possible later when winds – gusting up to 45 mph inland, and 60 mph at the Shore – kick up and the snow becomes drier, said Guzzo.
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A slew of travel restrictions put in place across the Philly region
PennDOT reduced the speed limit on a number of Philadelphia-area highways Sunday evening, including I-95 and the Schuylkill Expressway.
The speed limit is now 45 mph on the following Philly-area roadways:
Interstates 76, 95, 295, 476, 676
U.S. Routes 1, 30, 202, 422
State Routes 63, 100 Spur and 309
PennDOT also issued Tier 4 restrictions on major roadways in Eastern Pennsylvania, which prohibits all commercial vehicles from driving. It also restricts buses, motorcycles, RVs, and passenger vehicles towing trailers.
New Jersey issued a travel ban on all non-exempt vehicles from driving on major roadways beginning at 9 p.m. The New Jersey Turnpike is not includes in the restriction.
Delaware issued Level 1 driving restrictions, which calls on residents residents not to drive “unless there is a significant safety, health, or business reason to do so.”
All Philadelphia City Council offices will be closed Monday as a massive winter storm makes its way across the region, President Kenayatta Johnson’s office announced Sunday afternoon.
A Public Health and Human Services Committee hearing on reproductive health scheduled to take place Monday will be postponed to a later day, .
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker had previously announced all city offices and schools would be closed Monday due to the storm.
Hundreds of flights canceled at Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia airport crew plow snow during last month’s storm.
356 flights had been cancelled at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday as of 5 p.m., as snow started to blanket the city. Another 579 flights were cancelled for Monday, according to FlightAware, which tracks flights.
“Passengers should check on the status of their flights with their airlines—the airlines will also provide guidance on what passengers should do in the event their flights are cancelled,” said airport spokesperson, Heather Redfern on Sunday afternoon via email.
Some 40 million square feet need to be cleared at the airport when snow falls, including on airplane runways and taxiways. The airport also has an additional 11.9 million square feet of space on roadways, ramps and parking lots.
While airplanes are deiced by the airlines, the department of aviation is required to ensure runways and taxiways are clear.
More than two inches of dry snow or half an inch or wet snow trigger closing a runway, according to regulations by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), noted Redfern. Even if flights are canceled by airlines or in the event that the FAA issues a ground stop, the airport does not close, Redfern noted in January ahead of another snowfall.
The machinery that has been used at the airport to tackle snow in the past sports weather related names: Snow Angel, Ice Wookie, Multifarious, Snowmizer, Snow Slayer, Time Bandit, Arctic Fox, Snow Jawn, Nor’easter, Yeti, Storm Breaker, Terra Hawk, Silver Hawk, Heatwave, Tropic Breeze, and Heatmizer.
A man rides his scooter along N. 4th Street as snow falls Sunday. Rain turns into snow late Sunday afternoon in Haddonfield. Pedestrians use their umbrellas to shield themselves from the snow in Old City Sunday. Snow falls at Chew Playground in South Philadelphia. Rain shifts to snow in the Italian Market at 9th and Carpenter Streets.
// Timestamp 02/22/26 4:42pm
PSE&G prepares for outages due to ‘heavy wet snow and elevated winds’
Snow begins to pile up in Wayne, Delaware County Sunday afternoon.
Outages due to the snowstorm are expected, Brian J. Clark, senior vice president of PSE&G, the energy company based in Newark, said in a press conference around 3:45pm on Sunday.
PSE&G, which provides electricity and gas, services parts of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties.
“The increased heavy wet snow and elevated winds remain our major concerns,” said Clark on Sunday. “We may see large limbs and possible decayed trees fall and make contact with our lines.”
Roughly 3,000 PSE&G electric field personnel were on hand to help restore service on Sunday, which includes tree trimmers and line workers.
Restoring service includes clearing wires that have fallen and may be blocking roads, to ensure emergency responders can circulate. The utility company focuses on restoring service to “the largest blocks of customers first, and working concurrently with other crews downstream to restore individual homes and businesses,” said Clark.
Customers can check the company’s outage map to find out how long restoring service is estimated to take in their area.
“We’re fully staffed, which includes strategically placing folks at different points in our service territory to respond quickly to emergencies,” said Clark. “At PSE&G, our service to our customers, businesses and governmental locations is extremely important to us. Our team will be fully engaged around the clock until everyone is restored.”
‘Code Blue’ for Philadelphia, city to open warming sites
The Hub of Hope will serve as a warming site during the storm.
City officials on Sunday instituted a “Code Blue” that’s set to last until 9 a.m. Tuesday.
A Code Blue is declared when precipitation is falling and temperatures are 32 degrees or lower, or when temperatures feel close to or below 20 degrees due to the wind chill. The designation means that the city sends out outreach teams 24 hours a day to find people without shelter and take them to “safe indoor spaces.”
It also opens up additional shelter beds, and residents in emergency housing are allowed to stay inside all day. (Some shelters require residents to leave in the morning and return at night.)
On Sunday afternoon, the city announced that warming sites would open at several locations across the city on Sunday evening:
Hub of Hope, 4 p.m.: 15th Street trolley entrance in Dilworth Park, 1 S. 15th Street
Samuel Recreation Center, 7 p.m.: 3539 Gaul St.
Kensington Wellness Support Center, 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.: 265 East Lehigh Ave.
Prevention Point, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.: 2913-15 Kensington Ave.
People who need shelter or who see someone sleeping outdoors should call the city’s homeless outreach hotline at 215-232-1984. People can also visit a homeless intake center; the city’s after-hours intake centers are open 24/7 during a snow emergency. The city will also open its Appletree Family Center at 1430 Cherry Street, at 6 p.m. through Monday.
The city said capacity at the warming centers is 280 and shelter beds also had room to take people; typically, the city operates 3,000 shelter beds year round and adds at least 400 extra during the winter. During Code Blue, another 50 beds are added.
Some advocates said early Sunday the city should do more to get people sleeping on the streets inside. Declaring an “enhanced Code Blue,” which typically occurs after three days of Code Blue conditions have passed, would open warming centers, which allow people spaces to sit to get out of the cold. During the last cold snap, libraries served as warming centers during the day and rec centers opened to shelter people at night.
Some staff at libraries said they had been overwhelmed during this month’s unusually long enhanced Code Blue, and that the city had not provided enough resources or staff to help warming center clients. Still, advocates for homeless Philadelphians say the warming centers are a lifeline in potentially dangerous weather conditions, especially for people who are wary of entering shelters.
Rain switches over to snow in Philly; nearly 2 inches already in Somers Point
Snow falls as a pedestrian walks along N. 2nd Street in Old City Sunday afternoon.
Rain began switching over to snow in Center City Philadelphia and across the region just before 4 p.m. Sunday as residents brace for snowfall totals of a foot or more.
The agency is still calling for 14 to 20 inches of snow to fall in and around Philly through Monday morning, with the heaviest snowfall expect to take place this evening.
Heavy snow could be seen on webcams up and down the Jersey Shore, from Wildwood to Seaside Heights, areas expected to be hit the hardest by the massive storm. All of New Jersey’s 21 counties are expected to get a foot or more of snow, Gov. Mikie Sherrill warned during a news conference earlier in the day.
Camden, other school districts announce snow closures
An Elmo balloon rolls along a sidewalk in Haddonfield during last month’s snowstorm.
As the blizzard bears down, school districts across the region have announced either pivots to virtual instruction or full closures.
Cherry Hill, Moorestown, and Evesham are closed, for instance; so are Lower Merion, Neshaminy and Downingtown. Pennsbury and Central Bucks have called virtual instruction days, while Upper Darby will move to a remote learning day.
Camden schools will be closed. The district has amended the school calendar, tacking on an extra day to the end of the school year. Elementary students will now finish the school year on June 24, and high school students on June 25.
In Delaware, all districts in New Castle County have announced they will be closed Monday. Because of Delaware’s state of emergency, it will be a true snow day for students – no Zoom required.
Philly residents ‘snowload’ ahead of Sunday’s storm
Philadelphia Brewing Co. on Frankford Avenue
The precipitation had yet to shift from rain to snow Sunday afternoon, but patrons at neighborhood bars were already buttoning up their beer coats.
It’s a phenomenon called a “snowload” — when people flock to barstools and find solace from bad weather at the bottom of a citywide special or hot toddy, according to Les & Doreen’s Happy Tap bartender Bill Coburn and others.
With the city shut down and some workplaces closed for inclement weather Monday, blizzards and beer just make for the perfect adult snow day, bargoers said.
“I think it comes from when you’re a kid — you have a snow day and you all go out somewhere, go sledding,” said James Brenner, 43, who lives above Atlantis, The Lost Bar in Kensington. “It’s just an adult version of that.”
Bartender Michelle Graser agreed – barhopping and snow frolicking brings out camaraderie between neighbors.
The crowds weren’t out in earnest just after noon Sunday; there were some stragglers who came to watch the U.S.A.-Canada Olympic men’s hockey matchup. Some of the bars expected business to pick up later Sunday evening and into Monday.
Nearly everyone who spoke with The Inquirer advised “snowload”-ers to tip their bartenders handsomely and avoid drinking and driving. Ideally, they said, to stick to your walkable, corner bar.
Slightly less snow in latest Philly forecast as heavy snow falls in Delaware
Still no snow in Philadelphia as of Sunday afternoon, but forecasters still predict about a foot will fall.
At midafternoon the nor’easter was intensifying off the coast of Virginia, and heavy snow had moved as far north as southern Delaware.
Rain continued in the Philly region, and snow was likely to hold off until 5 or 6 p.m., said Tom Kines, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.
AccuWeather’s forecast amount, 10 to 14 inches, was more conservative than the National Weather Service’s call for 14 to 20 inches. The weather service had shaved off a few inches from its earlier forecast as updated computer guidance was less bullish on the amounts.
Kines added that if the snow were to hold off until later, amounts would be lower.
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PATCO to operate on snow schedule Sunday and Monday
A track utility vehicle moves along the PATCO train line earlier this month.
PATCO trains will run at reduced speeds on Sunday and on an abbreviated schedule on Monday as the region braces for a significant winter storm.
On Sunday, trains will operate on a typical Sunday schedule but trips may take up to 10 minutes longer in order to maintain the safety of passengers and crew, the agency said.
On Monday, trains will operate every 12 minutes for most of the day, as opposed to the typical 5-7 minutes at peak times and every 15-30 minutes at other times.
An NJ Transit employee opens a train door at the Hamilton Train Station.
NJ Transit will suspend its bus, light rail, and Access Link service at 6 p.m. Sunday, the agency announced.
Trains will continue to run, but both the agency and Gov. Mikie Sherrill warned a shutdown later this evening was likely.
Speed restrictions of 35 miles per hour will go into effect on the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, and other highways through the state at 3 p.m.
“In our last storm, I said, ‘don’t travel if you don’t have to.’ Now, I’m saying, ‘don’t travel tonight.’ It’s dangerous,” Sherrill said at a Sunday afternoon news conference.
‘These kind of winters were common when I was a kid’
Eric Dobson, 57, went shopping for groceries in Germantown Sunday before the snowfall began.
Holding a single grocery bag, Eric Dobson, 57, was taking the impending storm with calm and nostalgia.
“These kind of winters were common when I was a kid,” said the Germantown resident. “I guess we have become soft, so we panic.”
With enough salt still stocked up at his home from last month’s storm, Dobson’s mind was on getting some groceries at the Germantown Weavers Way Co-op.
“I don’t know why we always get milk and bread in the storms,” said Dobson with a laugh. “I don’t even think we eat that much bread.”
A last-minute food craving sent Norman Bayard, 52, to the grocery store.
“I’m ready to hunker down,” Bayard said. “My family is at home; we have water and flashlights, but we didn’t have all the ingredients for the chili.”
Ashley Ellis Gitongu, 33, brought her three boys to the grocery store as a last outing before the storm.
“I’m not too worried, but we are going to be stuck inside for two days,” Gitongu said, looking at her 8- and 5-year-old boys roughhousing.
With schools closing in Philly, she predicts “a lot of arts and crafts are in our future.” Her husband, she said, will take the children sledding. But if snow fun isn’t possible, they found a solution during the last storm, turning their home into an “open house.”
“All the furniture is out of the way in the living room, so they can play soccer inside,” Gitongu said. “We have softballs, legos, anything to keep them active and distracted.”
A SEPTA Regional Rail train heads through East Falls during a snowstorm last month.
As the region awaits the arrival of a snowfall that is expected to be in the double digits, SEPTA is warning riders that transit will be impacted.
“We want to be clear with our customers – there are going to be significant service disruptions,” said SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer in a statement. “This is going to include delays, trip cancellations, and likely shutdowns of routes and entire modes of travel.”
Whenever possible, SEPTA will provide customers with at least two hours’ notice before service suspensions, the agency said.
SEPTA has also pretreated parking lots and tracks, tapping into the agency’s stock of 4,000 tons of rock salt. Depending on when the snow stops, SEPTA officials anticipate it could take until midweek to clear the nearly 300 Metro and Regional Rail stations throughout the five-county region.
Pennsylvania issues disaster declaration; commercial driving restrictions begin at 3 p.m.
A line of PennDot salt trucks line up ahead of a storm in December.
Gov. Josh Shapiro announced a disaster emergency during a new conference Sunday afternoon ahead of a massive snowstorm expected to blanket most of Eastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia.
The declaration allows state resources to be activated and enables local governments to activate their own emergency plans to respond to the storm, which is expected to drop a foot or more of snow in and around Philadelphia.
Shapiro said state officials expect the heaviest snow — potentially one to two inches an hour — to begin around 5 p.m., and urged drivers to travel only if absolutely necessary.
“I ask you to stay off the roads, particularly when the snow begins,” Shapiro said, “so that the plows can get out there, clear the roads and get you back moving as quickly as possible.”
PennDot Secretary Michael Carroll said commercial truck restrictions will begin at 3 p.m. He also said he expects tighter rules on more motorists during the heaviest portions of the storm.
Despite rain, more than a foot of snow still expected to fall in Philly
Rain falls Sunday afternoon on Cecil B. Moore Avenue in North Philadelphia.
Rain continued to fall Sunday afternoon with temperatures well above freezing, but forecasters say a drastic change for the worse is coming.
Blizzard warnings are in effect for the Philly region and all of New Jersey and Delaware for wind gusts to 45 mph and 14 to 20 inches of snow.
Those estimates may be “a bit high,” said Ray Martin, lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, but a “bit high” still would be quite a boatload of snow, the most since February 2010.
Sunday updated forecast from the National Weather Service.
Moderate to major flooding was forecast at the Shore with onshore winds howling up to 60 mph.
The snow will be wet and heavy, ideal for accumulating on trees and wires, and combined with the winds may cause some power outages.
This is the first time ever that all of New Jersey has been under a blizzard warning, said Judah Cohen, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology research scientist.
Philadelphia has not experienced a verifiable blizzard in 33 years. A blizzard is defined as heavy snow with winds of 35 mph an/or quarter-mile visibility for three consecutive hours.
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A satellite view of a massive winter storm making its way through the Northeast Sunday.
The storm developing off the Southeast Coast will qualify as a meteorological “bomb cyclone,” said Cody Snell, meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
Just what does that mean? The technical description is on the geeky side — a barometric pressure drop of 0.7 inches in the center of a cyclone in a 24-hour period. Unofficially, it’s one mighty intense storm.
It so happens that the U.S. East Coast is in a prime area to experience the effects of those storms, according to the atmospheric scientists who are credited with minting the term in a 1980 paper, John Gyakum and Frederick Sanders.
The warm waters of the Gulf Stream are breeding grounds for potent storms that can form when cold air bounds off the coast.
Gyakum, a professor at McGill University in Montreal, recalled that well before the paper was published, the term “bomb” was used commonly in the halls of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a grad student under Sanders.
The term has taken some blowback, but Gyakum argues that given the potential damage these storms can cause, “bomb” is appropriate.
Trash collection in Philly suspended through Wednesday
Sanitation Department trash trucks with plows clear snow during last month’s storm.
Trash and recycling collection in Philadelphia will be suspended the next few days as the city braces for as much as two feet of snow.
Collections are suspended Monday and Tuesday, the city announced. As of now, service will resume Wednesday on a two-day delay, with Monday collections picked up Wednesday and subsequent days following the same schedule.
The city is also suspending collections in rear driveways for the entire week, due to the possibility of trucks getting stuck in the snow. Residents are asked to set their materials in front of their homes for pickup.
Second trash collection is also suspended this week.
Central High School and the rest of the schools in Philly will be empty Monday.
With an eye toward the coming blizzard, the Philadelphia School District has already called a virtual instruction day for Monday.
All district offices will also operate virtually.
“While we work to the greatest extent possible to keep schools open for in-person learning to accelerate student achievement, we also consider the staff members who are commuting from across the region and keep the safety of students and staff as our top priority,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said in a message to families and staff.
The district gave students one full snow day in January, but has no more cushion built into its calendar. Any further inclement weather days will also be virtual instruction days, Watlington said.
“After Monday, if schools need to remain closed due to inclement weather, the district will provide an update to parents, guardians and employees regarding remote learning,” Watlington said.
Snowfall totals increase in latest forecasts; blizzard warnings expand
Up to two feet of snow could fall in Philly.
The National Weather Service expanded its blizzard warnings to include Philadelphia Sunday morning, as a “potentially historic winter storm” makes its way towards the Northeast.
Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, and eastern Montgomery Counties, and all of New Jersey and Delaware, are now under blizzard warnings through Monday.
Predicted snowfall has also increased in the past few hours, with as much as two feet of snow possible in the city. Winds gusts up to 60 mph and snowfall rates exceeding one to two inches per hour are also expected, forecasters said.
Blowing and drifting snow could create whiteout conditions, making driving dangerous and nearly impossible. The storm will certainly impact the Monday commute, with the strongest winds expected to occur Sunday night into the morning.
People are encouraged not to travel. Those who must do so should carry a winter survival kit.
“Travel could be very difficult to impossible,” NWS said. “Areas of blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions will impact the Monday morning and evening commutes. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches and result in isolated power outages.”
Timing
Rain is expected to shift to snow by midday Sunday, and will continue through Monday afternoon. The heaviest snowfall is expected Sunday evening and overnight.
The blizzard warning remains in effect from 10 a.m. Sunday to 6 p.m. Monday.
The weather service included the Philly area in its blizzard warning after getting “higher confidence” data showing a likelihood of heavy snowfall and whiteout conditions in the region, said NWS meteorologist Ray Martin.
“Really, the bulk of the snow will start falling after sundown,” Martin said.
Philly snow emergency goes into effect Sunday afternoon; city government closed Monday as schools go virtual
Just as last storm’s snow has finally melted, Philly is expected to be covered with more than a foot of snow.
“Mother Nature has spoken again and made it clear that winter is not over,” said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker during an emergency press conference, declaring a citywide snow emergency, starting 4 p.m Sunday. “Yet another big winter storm is coming. It’s a major snow storm with real accumulation anticipated, and it’s heading our way.”
City government and courts will not open Monday, while public schools will switch to virtual learning. SEPTA riders should expect significant service disruptions over the next three days, said officials, who implored drivers to stay off the road Sunday.
Dominick Morales, the city’s emergency management coordinator, described the expected storm as “dangerous,” adding that heavy, wet snow could threaten trees and power lines.
“Dangerous because of the amount of snowfall that is being forecast in about a 24-hour period, but it’s also dangerous because of high winds — and for Philadelphia — near blizzard conditions. When this storm picks up, we have to take it seriously,” he said.
When all is said and done, the total snowfall may be closeto 18 inches in the city, and could surpass20 inches in South Jersey, where high winds are forecast to create blizzard conditions, according to the National Weather Service. Early Sunday morning, the weather service extended a blizzard warning to cover Philadelphia and Bucks and Delaware Counties, as well as eastern Montgomery County and all of South Jersey.
“It does look like it’s going to be quite an impactful storm for the whole [I-]95 corridor and further east,” said Sarah Johnson, warning coordination meteorologist at the weather service’s Mount Holly office, on Saturday.
This will lead to potentially dangerous driving conditions starting Sunday into Monday. And the Shore and Delaware Bay could experience flooding duringhigh tide Sunday evening.
The last time Philadelphia saw more than a foot of snow was 2016, when 22.4 inches fell in the city on Jan. 22-23.
Officially Philadelphia has not recorded a blizzard since March 1993.
To meet the criteria – three consecutive hours of winds of 35 mph or greater and/or heavy snow reducing visibility to a quarter mile for three straight hours – the conditions would have to be observed at the first-order measuring station, which is at Philadelphia International Airport.
The criteria weren’t met during the record 30.7-inch snowfall of Jan. 7-8, 1996, but at the time many meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly argued that in the court of common sense it was indeed a blizzard.
It certainly acted and felt like on to those who experienced it.
Snow, after it hits 52 degrees? It’s happened before
On Saturday it reached 52 degrees in Philly as more snow vanished (not the mountains), and here we are a day later with a major snowstorm expected.
A warmup preceding a snowfall isn’t all that unusual this time of year, when the battles between the encroaching warm seasons and the retreating winter can be intense. Storms tend to form along thermal boundaries, and this is a prime for those contrasts. In today’s case an invasion of cold air is interacting with warmer air over the Atlantic Ocean.
Once powerful storms get going they can draw in cold air. Plus the upper air this time of year can be quite cold, and heavily falling snow can bring some of that to the surface.
One prime example of a snowstorm following a warmup occurred on Feb. 23, 1987. High temperatures the day before reached the low 50s. During the early morning hours of Feb. 23, heavy snow fell, accumulating 6.5 inches at Philadelphia International Airport, with totals several inches higher elsewhere in the city, and two feet in Downingtown.
On the plus side, a warmup after a snowfall isn’t all that unusual in late winter.
