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By ANNE KAROLYI; Times Leader Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 08, 1994     Page: 1A QUICK WORDS: SNOW RECORD MAY FALL
WITH NEXT WINTER STORM

Snow-battered soldiers of this stormy winter, enjoy today. On Wednesday
morning, the battle resumes.
   
Grab your shovels, your rock salt, your waterproof boots. Gas up the snow
blower, and stand guard: by Wednesday night, six inches or more of fresh snow
once again will hold Northeastern Pennsylvania under siege, said Mike
Jurewicz, National Weather Service meteorologist at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
International Airport in Avoca.
    This latest snow skirmish should break the standing record for the most
snow in a season, set with 88.6 inches in 1904-1905. As of Monday, snowfall
measurements at the airport were just six inches shy of that much snow,
Jurewicz said.
   
Monday night, weather-watchers spied on this winter storm, which brewed
above the Southwestern states, spitting rain and mountain snow. Today, the
front is expected to roll toward the Gulf states and then up the Appalachians,
dropping snow in the Wyoming Valley by Wednesday morning.
   
The snowfall attack should be heavy at times. Wednesday’s high temperature
should be only in the 20s, Jurewicz said. Total accumulation could be more
than six inches, but it’s too early now to tell, he said.
   
It’s not too early, however, for an official winter storm watch: the
National Weather Service predicts an almost 100 percent chance that winter,
once again, will strike.
   
The additional snowfall could mean trouble later along the Susquehanna
River if temperatures shoot up quickly this spring, said Jim Siracuse,
executive director of the Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency.
   
Monday night, however, the river was at 4.29 feet and dropping, a long way
from flood stage, Siracuse said. Last night’s rain and the chance of early
morning light snow would not be enough to make the river rise noticeably, he
said.
   
However, the colder weather won’t prompt any slow thaws, and it leaves more
of a chance for a fast warm up in a few weeks, Siracuse said.
   
“I wish we knew more,” Siracuse said. “Until we see what the temperature
does, we just have to wait. And watch.”
   
And shovel away the white stuff with an eye on the calendar. Elusive spring
officially starts March 21, Jurewicz said.
   
“With our luck, it will probably snow,” he said.