If you listened to meteorologists yesterday, you probably made sure you had enough bread and milk in your home, had fresh batteries in your flashlights, and dug out the kerosene lanterns and extra blankets.

A major ice storm was predicted and as late as 4 o'clock this morning one forecast called for an ice buildup to as much as three-quarters of an inch. Power outages seemed likely.The overnight weather certainly wasn't anything to ignore. But it appears temperatures climbed quicker in our area than expected and spared us the solid ice accumulation.Some commuters said travel today was actually better than it was yesterday morning.There were some widespread power outages, but not locally. The hardest hit areas were in Lancaster, Berks, and Dauphin Counties.Nearly 50,000 people were without electricity in Eastern Pa. at various times during the storm and as of 7:30 a.m. about 18,780 of them had been restored.No outages were reported in Carbon County. In Schuylkill County, there were 84 customers of PPL Electric in Pine Grove Township who lost power.Lehigh County had more than 2,800 PPL customers with power outages, with about 60 percent of them in Salisbury Township and Upper Saucon Township. Northampton County had 84 people who lost power.All schools in the area closed for the second straight day.The Carbon County Courthouse closed today. The announcement of the closing occurred yesterday in anticipation of the dire forecasts.Tim Wuttke of the Nesquehoning Police Department said at 7:15 a.m. that most roads were slushy but not frozen over. At that time, a steady rain was falling.No serious accidents were reported overnight during the storm.Punxsutawney Phil, the prognosticating groundhog, didn't see his shadow this morning which is supposed to symbolize an early spring in Pa. Dutch lore.It might be coming early, but spring weather isn't anywhere close to us, yet.Cold temperatures are forecast for the next couple of days. Then, the National Weather Service says, two more potential storms lie on the horizon.There's a chance for snow on Saturday, although at this point it doesn't appear to be a major event.Then, on Monday night, another low pressure system could bring us a coastal storm although forecasters admit the exact track is still too early to define.