Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

By Alex Sosnowski Expert Senior Meteorologist for AccuWeather.com A summertime version of the polar vortex will continue to set record low temperatures in the Plains and Midwest this week. Cool air will also reach into the South and Appalachians. The air will feel refreshing to some people but downright chilly and autumnlike to others. According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Steve Travis, "Many residents and visitors will be toting jackets and long sleeves." Rather than days of hazy sunshine and high humidity, typical of mid-July, many areas will experience a deep blue sky, at times, low humidity and a cool breeze. Temperatures failed to climb past the 60s F from the eastern part of the Dakotas, through Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Monday. Minneapolis, home of the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, set a record low maximum temperature of 65 on Monday, breaking the old record of 68 set in 1884. Nearly a dozen cities...

By Anthony Sagliani Meteorologist for AccuWeather.com AccuWeather reports cold air sweeping across the Great Lakes from Canada will flip the snow switch on from northeastern Ohio into western Pennsylvania, western New York and the Appalachians on Wednesday night into Friday morning. While areas like Cleveland, Erie and Buffalo will have only a few wet snowflakes mixing in from time to time, with mostly rain squalls around, favored inland snowbelt regions such as Bradford, Pa., and New York state's Tug Hill Plateau will have moderate to significant accumulation. In fact, by the time Friday morning rolls around, parts of the Tug Hill just east of Lake Ontario could have 3-9 inches of snowfall, which would be the heaviest so far this season, and the greatest amount since last winter. A less significant, though still potentially disruptive 1-3 inches of snowfall is expected in areas such as Jamestown, N.Y., Du Bois, Pa. and Pierpont, Ohio. According to AccuWeather Chief Meteoro...

About 2,400 Penelec customers in McKean County are still without power after Thursday’s storm. 200 of those are in the Lewis Run area ; 800 are in the Smethport and Port Allegany areas. Penelec says most power should be restored between 11 p.m. and midnight Sunday, with the rest restored by Monday morning. In Potter County, 1,500 Penelec customers are still without power; Elk County, 1,400; Cameron County, 300; Jefferson, 1,600; and Forest, 900. Penelec expects most power in those areas to be restored by this evening. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

By Alex Sosnowski, senior meteorologist for www.AccuWeather.com Low stream flows have forced officials to suspend water usage for the natural gas development (fracking) in portions of Pennsylvania. A lack of snowfall this winter and a lack of rain this spring were the major players in abnormally low stream flows, low ground water levels and depleted soil moisture. According to a report published by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SBRC), 17 separate water withdrawals were temporarily suspended. The suspension, initiated to mitigate plunging stream flows in the basin affects 10 companies in five Pennsylvania counties. Those counties are Bradford, Luzerne, Lycoming, Susquehanna and Tioga. Additional withdrawals may be suspended if rainfall continues to trend below normal. According to officials, the restrictions are applied to various streams when flow rates reach a certain threshold and do not wait for declaration of a drought. The abnormally dry conditions hav...

By Bill Deger, meteorologist for www.AccuWeather.com www.AccuWeather.com reports after a weekend of damaging storms in the Plains and Midwest, the threat for severe thunderstorms will shift to the eastern Great Lakes and portions of the interior Northeast today. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Erie, Buffalo and Rochester are among the cities at risk for damaging winds and hail by this afternoon and evening. Areas east of the Appalachians, including the big cities of the I-95 corridor, will be spared from any thunderstorm activity. The gusty storms will fire in a very warm, unstable air mass along and ahead of a cold front pushing into eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and New York, as well as adjacent parts of southeastern Ontario, Canada. Many of the areas that will be socked by these strong storms will experience near-record warmth this afternoon. In the wake of the front and storms, temperatures will nosedive on Tuesday, similar to what will be happening over the Midwest today. With the tr...

By Bill Deger, meteorologist for www.AccuWeather.com State College, Pa. -- After a snowy Easter Sunday across Maine, other parts of the Northeast and Great Lakes will see snowflakes fly as this week progresses. A repeat of March's unusual and record warmth is not on tap to follow Easter Sunday across the Great Lakes and Northeast. Instead, a stubborn storm will make cooler temperatures, brisk winds and spotty showers the norm through Tuesday across the Great Lakes. The Northeast will have to deal with the unsettled weather into at least Thursday. With enough cold air in place, some areas will see the rain showers mix with or fall as snow on one or even several occasions. Residents of northern Maine may feel like they have already seen their fair share of snow this week. This Easter Sunday started with 3 to 6 inches of snow whitening many communities. A little of this snow will persist across the interior of northern New England and upstate New York today. Also today, lake-effect sn...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Foster Township’s sewer line project could cost about a million dollars less than originally planned. “We’ve taken what was thought to be a 5, 6 million dollar project and … I think it’s about 4.4 million,” said new township engineer Harold Bloomgren of Northwest Engineering. “That’s a little easier to handle.” Bloomgren attended Monday’s Foster Township supervisors meeting and gave a report on the updated Act 537 Plan. Northwest has taken over engineering duties from E&M Engineers after a mistake by E&M cost the township a low interest PENNVEST loan. E&M’s insurance company is currently considering an “errors and omissions” claim so the township can get its money back. The new plan developed by Northwest calls for using low pressure sewer lines with grinder pumps instead of gravity lines. The actual cost to township residents will depend on if funding comes from PENNVEST or Rural Utility Service, and the terms of the loans and/or gr...

By Alex Sosnowski Expert senior meteorologist for www.AccuWeather.com State College, Pa. -- 21 March 2012 -- AccuWeather.com reports in the Northeast and southern New England, the perfect pattern for fog, along with the warmth, continues through the week. While the late summer into early fall is the prime season for fog, under the right conditions, fog can be a problem in the early spring as well. Folks in parts of the Northeast have certainly received an education on this in recent days. According to AccuWeather.com's Chief Operating Officer Evan Myers, "The pattern is very similar to what occurs in September, in terms of the long nights, moisture and temperature." "It's a blend of radiation and advection fog in this case," Myers added. Radiation fog occurs when marginally moist air in place cools to its saturation point at night and is most common in the autumn. Advection fog occurs when the cloud bank is pushed in from a particular area or it is caused by...

by Kristina Pydynowski Senior Meteorologist for AccuWeather A mild but wet day is unfolding across the Northeast with chilly air and the prospect of snow in some areas waiting in the wings. The rain that soaked and set daily records in the Midwest on Wednesday will continue to crawl through the Northeast today, weakening in the process. While steadier pockets of rain stream across the Northeast's interior, spottier showers will dot the I-95 corridor. "Very little rain may reach the lower Delmarva Peninsula and southeastern Virginia," stated AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. Most of the showers from New York City to Washington, D.C., will hold off until later this afternoon, allowing residents to take full advantage of this unusually mild mid-December day. Temperatures today will approach or crack the 60-degree mark northward along the I-95 corridor to New York City and from the upper Ohio Valley to Erie, Pa. Highs in the 50s and 40s, which are m...