Storm shifts, spares Philadelphia region

The nor'easter that threatened to bury the region knee-deep in snow shifted east over night, sparing Philadelphia and environs the brunt of its force.

Despite the fizzle, many schools are closed in Southeastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia public and parochial schools, and others are planning to open late.

New Jersey Gov. Christie in the meantime lifted a statewide travel ban, first south of I-195 then north of it.

Some snow will fall throughout the morning, with accumulations from up to an inch south and west of the city and up to 4 inches in Philadelphia and South Jersey before it's over. The National Weather Service regional office in Mount Holly measured 1.2 inches on the ground around 6 a.m.

The shift in the nor'easter's track also saw a blizzard warning lifted in New York City, replaced by a winter storm warning while Long Island and New England got hammered.

The change in direction also prompted apologies from some meteorologists.

Gary Szatkowski, chief forecaster for the weather service's regional office, said in a pair of tweets: "My deepest apologies to many key decision makers and so many members of the general public.

"You made a lot of tough decisions expecting us to get it right, and we didn't. Once again, I'm sorry."

Dan Skeldon, a meteorologist at the Shore known for his work during Sandy, tweeted: "I guess this snow-loving meteorologist who happens to be a Pats fan just suffered his own version of #DeflateGate in terms of snow totals."

He later tweeted: "So tomorrow's forecast: hate mail likely. But I believe a good meteorologist 1) admits when he/she is wrong and 2) learns from the mistakes."

An issue still to be resolved now that the storm is no longer a threat was how many of the 900 flights in or out of Philadelphia International Airport that were canceled for Tuesday would be rescheduled.

SEPTA Regional Rail and PATCO or running on modified schedules and NJ Transit announced this morning that its buses and RiverLine light rail service have resumed operation and that its commuter rail lines will start coming back in the afternoon.

Amtrak also is running on a modified schedule between Washington and New York and will have no service north of New York.

That the storm did not hammer the Philadelphia region does not mean it will not have an economic cost in terms of lost time and productivity related to preemptive flight cancellations and closures of schools and businesses.

Mayor Nutter defended the decision to close city offices, saying the administration waited as long as possible to make the announcement Monday.

"We try to wait until the last possible moment," he said, but "we also need to give citizens notice" to make child care, transportation and other arrangements in the event of a closure.

The mayor also said it would have been "completely unreasonable" to reverse the closure decision early Tuesday morning.