A winter storm moved through the area Friday morning bringing rain and half a foot of snow to towns like Toms River, NJ, while only a trace places North and West, like Allentown, Pa.
Glenn's Blog: THE NEXT SNOW THREAT
The storm began as heavy rain and switched over to wet snow around 4 a.m. in Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania suburbs. Philly International saw 0.2" of snow.
LATEST FIRST ALERT WEATHER FORECAST
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SCHOOL CLOSINGS & DELAYS
A number of districts and schools delayed opening and there were a handful of closures into the NBC10 First Alert School Closing System. You can always chec the latest school closings and delays here.
For the second time in three years, Molly Schuyler's chicken chomping skills led her to victory at Philadelphia's Wing Bowl.
Schuyler downed 429 wings Friday morning at the Wells Fargo Center in a photo finish with fellow professional eater Patrick Bertoletti. Bertoletti, who was last year's champ, finished with 408 wings.
The early morning eating ordeal draws boozy spectators who tailgate beforehand to watch flamboyant contestants and suggestively-clad women known as Wingettes. This year it is known as Wing Bowl 24: Game of Bones. It's a promotion for radio station WIP.
Seven eaters were disqualified, six for throwing up and one for cheating. Wing Bowl's No. 1 rule is ``if you heave, you leave.''
Former NBA great Dennis Rodman was the featured guest. He called the spectacle "nuts.''
A 12-year-old boy who ran back into his burning Norristown, Pennsylvania home Friday morning to save his father was claimed by the flames, family members tell NBC10.
The boy was identified as Sanford Harling, III by city officials Friday afternoon. A member of the Norristown Youth Eagles football team, the 6th grader ran back into the flames and never got out.[[367865971, C]]
The fire broke out around 8:45 a.m. on the first floor of a twin home along the 1000 block of Markley Street, fire officials said. A family of five lived there, relatives and officials said.
In a video taken by a bystander, family could be heard wailing for help as the flames shot from the home. One man could be heard yelling "there's a baby in there!" [[367829711, C]]
Flames quickly spread to the second floor and were so intense that windows burst. Thick black smoke billowed from other parts of the brick and wood structure as fire crews pulled up to the scene.
Several aunts and uncles of the Harling family, said the 12-year-old escaped the fire, but realized his father, Sanford, Jr. hadn't made it out. The man was recovering from a recent surgery.[[367823231, C]]
The boy ran back into the home, but never returned, family said. The father did make it out alive, family said.
One man was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries, according to police. Neighbors said he jumped from a window to escape the fire. His relationship was unclear.
Officials said the boy is surviced by his mother Dana, father Sanford, Jr. and siblings.[[367865751, C]]
A GoFundMe page was posted to assist the family in their recovery.
The American Red Cross was also assisting two families affected by the fire.
Officials are investigating the cause of the fire.
An elderly woman was killed and her husband seriously hurt when a tree toppled onto the bedroom of their Delaware County home, trapping them for hours, fire officials said.
The tree crushed the back portion of the home along the 200 block of James Road in Broomall, Pennsylvania, early Friday.
Broomall Fire Dept. incident commander Carl Drake said neighbors heard a crash around 6 a.m., but no one realized the tree fell until a man leaving for work saw the aftermath and heard screams for help. He called 911.[[367821351, C]]
The tree landed perpendicular onto the couple's bed, crushing them. The husband was awake and talking when firefighters arrived, Drake said. The wife was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Get me the hell out of here," Drake said the man told him when he first walked into the second floor bedroom.
A crane was brought in to lift the tree and firefighters used chainsaws to cut it apart. It took 70 minutes to free them.[[238427591, C]]
"When we picked up the tree with the crane, we had a sigh of relief from the guy," Drake said.
Officials did not immediately identify the couple. The husband was taken by medical helicopter to Penn Presbyterian Trauma Center for treatment.
It's not clear whether the weather played a factor in bringing the tree down.
MORE OF A REAL STORM-BUT PROBABLY NOT HUGE
Computer models have been showing signs for more than a week. An Arctic blast will be moving into the area by the middle of next week. The possible storm is just ahead of that. But, unlike our blizzard from a couple of weeks ago, this set-up is far from classic. There will be multiple storms developing between Monday and Wednesday, and not one single, big storm. In fact, the biggest one will probably move out to sea Monday. The one on Tuesday has more potential to bring us snow.
Yesterday, I showed the map predicted by the European model, and it showed LOW pressure off the East Coast, but not a real intense one. That would imply snow, but not necessarily a major storm.
The map below is a blend of computer models, from the American GFS, the Canadian, and the new U.S. Navy model. Averaging models, especially several days in advance, can help give forecasters more confidence.
It’s pretty similar to the European, with the LOW in a favorable position. This is a map that averages all three models. The closer those little red numbers are to each other, the more confidence we have. Some solutions are too far offshore for us to get snow, so this is not a “slam dunk”. But with so many models showing similar solutions, we still have snow in the forecast for Tuesday.
Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz
Chief Meteorologist, NBC10 Philadelphia
