Let’s Take Another Snow Day, Shall We?
You know the drill, folks: Philadelphia schools are closed. SEPTA is increasingly up and running, except in all the places it isn’t. Mayor Nutter would like you to know that we’re still under a snow emergency until he says we’re not under a snow emergency:
“The snow emergency is not over until we declare it over,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said during a Thursday afternoon press conference. The snow emergency went into effect Wednesday night.
“The city is still under a snow emergency. We are still operating under the snow emergency that was declared at 8:00 p.m. last night and we expect to be under a snow emergency until sometime tomorrow,” Nutter said.
That declaration means residents must move vehicles and trash bins off snow emergency routes.
Philadelphia has received about 10 inches of snow so far, and 2 to 6 more could be on the way, Mayor Nutter said at a 5 p.m. news briefing. City offices and courts will remain closed tomorrow.
The 9.8 inches measured officially in Philadelphia at 1 p.m. have made this the fifth-snowiest season in 130 years of record-keeping and marked the first time that the city has had four snowfalls of 8 or more inches in one winter. Before this season, it had never recorded more than three storms of 6 inches or more.
But when it’s not causing power outages, and making for nightmarish commutes, a little snowfall can be a whole lot of fun.
Early Thursday afternoon, many gathered to sled down the famed steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Drexel Junior Maddie Cole, describes the scene:
“People of all ages, young kids to adults. They’ve got their dogs. They’re got their boogie boards. They’ve got their actual sleds. They’ve got their tupperware containers. We brought cardboard to slide on,” she said. “And people are great. They’re sharing their sleds, letting everybody have a turn, having races.”
More to come, we’re sure.
