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By KELLY P. KISSEL; Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, February 01, 1994 Page: 1 & 12A QUICK WORDS: SNOW WILL SOON
FALL, BUT TALES ARE TOO TALL
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Keeping track of rumors about a storm heading for the
Northeast on Sunday is just like watching an auction: Do I hear 2 feet of
snow? Three? Five? Seven?
“It’s gone from the realm of rumor to something akin to fantasy,” said Fred
Gadomski, a Penn State University meteorologist.
“The rumors have gotten out of hand, the amounts of 4 or 5 feet in places
where record snowfalls are 2 feet,” said forecaster Ken Reeves of
Accu-Weather.
Meteorologists agree that snow — maybe up to 2 feet in isolated locations
— is due across the Northeast on Sunday. However, they said Thursday wasn’t
the time to be worried about it. An ice storm expected Thursday night into
today should pose enough problems.
“There could potentially be a big storm Sunday, but by far the most
important thing is what’s going to be happening in the next 18 hours,” Reeves
said Thursday afternoon.
The rumors began Wednesday, and the National Weather Service and private
forecasters have no idea where they originated.
“I heard it was going to be bigger than the blizzard of 1993,” when 24 to
30 inches fell, said Nancy Ulrich of U&I Hardware and Building Supplies in
Millheim.
“I was told, and I don’t remember by whom, that we were going to get 2 feet
of snow on Sunday night,” said Andrea Messer, who works in the public
information office at Penn State University.
“Then somebody said it was going to be 2 or 3 feet. Then somebody mentioned
50 inches and said they saw it on The Weather Channel,” Messer said.
“Fifty seems a little absurd, especially since I’m not even 60 inches tall
and there are already 10 inches on the ground,” Messer said.
Gadomski said most rumors he has heard ranged from 30 to 50 inches, but he
heard one report of up to 7 feet.
“There’s no doubt there will be a significant weather system develop and
hit Pennsylvania on Sunday, but 7 feet? That’s a little bold,” said Weather
Channel forecaster Jim Wilson.
Other forecasters in the background laughed as he spoke.
“It sounds like you guys are a little paranoid about more snow,” Wilson
said.
Many areas of the state already have seen more than 3 feet fall since Jan.
1.
Some rumor-spreaders, asked to name their sources, tried to blame The
Farmers Almanac, but its predictions for Sunday and Monday mention only cold
for southeast Pennsylvania, freezing rain and snow in the north and snow then
seasonable conditions in the southwest.
Gadomski, a host of Pennsylvania public television’s “Weather World”
program, said he could understand the reasons behind the rumors. People are
fascinated with snow more than with any other weather event, he said.
“Everybody can measure the snow without any special instrumentation. You
feel it, and its results stay around,” Gadomski said. “Snow amounts we can
relate to. We have to shovel it.”