Dec. 20 (UPI) — Snow squalls racing across the Northeast ahead of a wave of Arctic air turned a stretch of Interstate 80 into chaos in central Pennsylvania after a deadly pileup closed the highway in both directions Wednesday afternoon.
Union County Coroner Dominick Adamo has confirmed two men are dead as a result of the multi-vehicle crash, according to Fox 26.
The two victims have been identified by the Pennsylvania State Police as Edward Posavec, 53, of Hatfield, Pa., and Marek Szczepanczyk, 58, of Sterling Heights, Mich.
Approximately 60 vehicles were involved in the crash, according to the state police.
The chain-reaction accident occurred as the vehicles were traveling westbound a little before 1:30 p.m. By 2 p.m. officials shut down the 34-mile stretch of I-80 between Lewisburg and Lock Haven.
Visibility at the time the snow squall hit was around 8 feet to 10 feet, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
AccuWeather field operations supervisor Trisha Gates reports that many people in smaller cars had exited their vehicles, finding trees along the edge of the highway to get out of the way of any more oncoming semis.
When the snow cleared, dozens of vehicles were left piled up in a tangled mess of twisted metal and 37 people were transported to Evangelical Hospital in Lewisburg. Three of the injured were transported to other facilities for a higher level of care.
Twenty-one non-patients were staying at the hospital as a means of temporary shelter.
Geisinger Medical Center said it received nine patients in relation to the crash, including three who were transferred from other facilities.
“Snow squalls began to move through the area where the accident occurred between noon and 1 p.m. with snow squalls continuing to move through over the next few hours,” AccuWeather meteorologist Jake Sojda said.
After looking more closely, Sojda said the first squalls arrived around that particular stretch of I-80 right around 1 p.m.
PennDOT alerted motorists that the interstate was closed in both directions between the Lock Haven exit in Clinton County and the Williamsport exit in Northumberland County due to the crash.
Eastbound lanes were reopened later Wednesday, but westbound lanes remained closed as of Thursday morning.
“The snow squalls would have significantly reduced visibility, perhaps to near zero, and quickly coated the roads. Since the accident occurred close to the time when snow squalls first moved through the region, it is also possible that the snow initially melted on the road surface but then refroze into a sheet of ice,” Sojda said.
According to Sojda, this can happen because some sunshine arrived before the squalls which could have warmed the road surface to above freezing, causing the snow to melt initially.
“Then the loss of heat on the road due to the heavy snow can cause it to quickly drop below freezing. This is a particularly dangerous threat that snow squalls can often pose,” Sojda said.
