A massive winter storm crossed much of the country Sunday, including central Pennsylvania where it left a foot of snow in some places, blanketing the roadways and leading to school and Penn State campus closures. WPSU talked with local residents about the snowstorm.
“I’m from the South, so this sucks," said Ryan Zona, who's originally from Tennessee. He moved to the State College area four years ago, and this is the most snow he’s gotten to experience since then.
“This is the biggest I’ve seen it so far," he said. "It’s cold. See we’re shoveling, but it’s getting replaced instantly.”
The snow — and sleet in some places — was continuing at a steady clip.
“It would be nice if we could make a snowman, but it’s not that type of snow," he said.
As much as 12-15 inches of snowfall was reported in parts of Centre and Blair counties, and 17 inches in Punxsutawney, according to the National Weather Service's snowfall reports.
Penn State canceled classes and activities at the University Park, Altoona and DuBois campuses through Tuesday morning.
In the State College area, Patrick Arndt was clearing his driveway Sunday afternoon — "trying to make it less awful later."
“It’s something. I think it was December 2020 the last big snow that I can remember like this," he said.
He said his two children —ages 10 and 6 — enjoyed it.
“So they’ve been in and out today," he said. "That’s the only thing with the supercold weather – you gotta watch out for frostbite.”
On another side of town, Penn State student Abhinav Velaga came down as decidedly pro-snow.
“It’s nice to have a lot of snow," he said. "So far the snow this year has been disappointing but I guess it didn’t disappoint the past two days.”
He was enjoying the winter wonderland with friends.
“We’re having some fun throwing snowballs at each other, climbing snowplow mountains the plowers have made,” Velaga said.
The snowy weather could continue Monday morning before tapering off. The cold temperatures, on the other hand, are expected to continue.
WPSU intern Alex Fischer contributed to this report.
