Snow pummeled the region on Monday, with snow bands dropping several inches at times.

There was 3 feet of snow reported in Ashfield along the mountain.

Palmerton had 24 inches, while Tamaqua got between 12-14 inches.

About a foot of snow had already fallen in Lehighton as of early morning by the time Dean Fisher of 235 S. Fourth St. cleaned the snow from his pavements.

Despite the onslaught, Fisher said one plus was that the snow was fluffy, which made it easier to shovel.

“It’s a nice one; it’s light,” Fisher said. “I might as well get the first foot up since I think we may be getting a second one.”

In general, most of the area saw between 18-22 inches on average, according to Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather.

A few areas near Allentown received up to 27 inches, Kines said.

Schools closed

Due to the severity of this winter storm, some school districts across the area were closed today.

Jim Thorpe Area School District Superintendent John Rushefski said today would be another “old-fashioned” snow day with no virtual classes.

Lehighton, Tamaqua and Pleasant Valley also took a break for virtual learning to log an actual snow day.

As for businesses, Boyer’s Food Market and the Rite Aid in Lansford were among those who close early.

Vehicles ticketed

Due to the severity of the storm, police departments were busy on Monday.

Beth Ritter-Guth of Palmerton took to Facebook to voice her frustration that parking tickets had been issued.

“So, I get it. Palmerton wants to plow the streets. We had to dig out last night before 8 p.m. and move cars to the other side of the street and today we have to move them back. But, it’s a raging storm and we have lots of elderly people who can’t move their cars. Those people all got tickets. Shame on Palmerton for victimizing the elderly.”

Borough Manager Donna McGarry said, “this storm has been difficult for everyone.”

“The purpose of the odd-even parking is to allow an efficient plowing program for our residents. We certainly feel for our elderly, but our police department has no way of knowing if a car is owned by a young person or an elderly person.”

Road crews swamped

Road crews have been working around the clock.

The Summit Hill Borough Public Works Department posted on Facebook just before midnight.

“Well (Monday) was ugly. Long duration of working. The crew did an excellent job with plowing today. I know people are disgusted with the shoveling but we are tired too. Over 32 hours of plowing this storm. And still going. We will get through this and get cleaned up. We got this.”

Those who had to travel today should be cautious, and prepared, according to Sean Brown, safety press officer for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

“Most of the roads are still snow covered; we are making some progress on our majors getting down to the roads, a lot of our secondary are going to take some time to clear those up,” Brown said. “We still ask folks for patience and to avoid travel if at all possible because it is going to take some time.”

Brown cautioned that neighborhood roads are still going to be tougher driving conditions.

“If you do have to travel, make sure your car is prepared in case you get stuck,” he said. “Have an emergency kit with food and water, cellphone, shovel, make sure you have gas in your car.”

Brown said road crews have been working 12-hour shifts so that to have a full complement of drivers.

“Plows will be out there until the roads are cleared,” he said. “They’ve been on shifts for a few days now, and we’ll continue that as long as we need.”

Brown said there weren’t many incidents, which he attributed to people staying off the roadways.

“Folks avoided travel as much as possible, which is really key to us being able to do our job. It’s really important,” he said. “This was a challenging storm, and it continues to be and we have lot of roads we have to clean up.”

Storm aftermath

Kines said that tonight we should see nothing more than a couple of flurries, though it will still be on the brisk side.

However, he noted there’s a “little bit of excitement brewing toward the latter part of the weekend.”

Later in the weekend, Sunday or Monday, Kines said there is the risk of another storm in the northeastern part of the country.

“We have to kind of wait and see on that one,” he said. “Whether or not we get another snowstorm, it looks like snow is sticking around for a while.”

Roads are likely to improve today as the day progresses, but Kines said, “What we got to watch out for is if there are some wet spots this afternoon, they’re probably going to freeze tonight, so that could cause some issues,” he said.

“The same goes for tomorrow night as well.”