Snow: Rush job
Does the atmosphere have something against the region’s commuters?
Once again this morning, snow showed up just in time to bedevil innocent rush-hour motorists.
As we noted in our Sunday story, measuring the severity of the winter is a subjective process, and one thing arguing in this one's credentials is the timing of storms.
We've counted a total of 15 wintry "events," in which snow and/or ice has been recorded officially at Philadelphia International Airport.
This winter is tied for third in the 130-year period of record for calendar days on which at least an inch of snow – with 11. Today might or might not make 12.
In our survey, we included days with less than an inch, and just for icing, two episodes of freezing rain.
In all, we counted 12 rush hours that were affected directly by falling frozen precipitation. We did not include peak commutes affected by storm aftermaths, black ice, or assorted wintry plagues.
The only major storm that occurred on a weekend was the surprise snow blitz of Dec. 8, the one that descended on Lincoln Financial Field during the Eagles game.
That was a Sunday, and while it wasn't a workday, anyone who was out trying to shop that day will tell you it was about as bad as it gets.
Arguably, the same can be said for the entire winter.