We got less snow than predicted, but a mixed bag of snow, sleet and freezing rain ensured this storm was anything but a dud.

The storm that began Thursday and continued to linger into this afternoon still made for some tricky travel.

That’s largely due to the storm taking more of a southern track, said Isaac Longley, a meteorologist with AccuWeather,

“Looks like a lot of areas didn’t get as much snow as they expected,” Longley said. “For us, it looks like we’ll still see some snow, mainly this morning, perhaps an additional coating to an inch.”

Longley said the snow was expected to taper off early this afternoon.

“This storm turned out to be a little more south than expected; more of a flatter riding storm, more west to east,” he said. “That’s why a lot of the areas really didn’t see as much of a snowfall; it was definitely a farther southern track and is now pushing out further to the Atlantic.”

Cleanup continues

Travel conditions remained dicey at times as crews continue cleanup efforts, according to Sean Brown, safety press officer for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

“We saw some lessening of the weather late yesterday, but at least down here in the Valley, we’re seeing some continued weather now,” Brown said. “So we did pull many of our truck restrictions, commercial restrictions, but we kept our 45 mph speed limit still in effect.”

Brown said motorists need to be careful if they have to travel.

“We still have our drivers out there, and they’re going to be out there through the storm plowing,” he said. “Just be aware roadways might not be 100 percent.”

Brown asked motorists to “be our partners on our roadways.”

“Avoid travel if at all possible; drive slowly and cautiously,” he said. “We will have all of our drivers out there until the storm is over.”

Mark Nalesnik, Carbon County Emergency Management Agency coordinator, said he was not aware of any major issues around the county.

“I’m sure there were some minor issues, but I believe that the public works departments and PennDOT did an excellent job,” Nalesnik said. “It was just hard to keep up with.”

Nalesnik praised everyone from road crews to motorists for working together.

“People did stay off the roads as much as possible, and it gave road crews a chance to clear the roads without a lot of hassle,” he said. “I believe that they all did a great job.”

In Schuylkill County, Tamaqua Area School District is closed today and the county government offices opened at 9:30 a.m.

“We didn’t get much,” John Matz, Schuylkill County Emergency Management Coordinator, said Thursday afternoon. “It wasn’t too big of a deal here,” he said.

Worst behind us?

Longley said the weekend appears to be drier, though still on the cold side, with temperatures hitting about 30 on Saturday. Mostly sunny skies on Sunday will help to make it feel a little warmer.

He said we’ll have to watch for another system Monday heading in from the west that figures to be more of a quicker system that will produce a cold front with mostly cloudy skies.

Longley said there could be a chance for some snow, and snow mixing with rain that could result in a coating to perhaps 1 inch of snow in the high elevations as temperatures reach the mid-30s.

“I think for the most part, at least over the next few weeks, we have seen the worst of the storms,” he said. “We will see a few quick storms moving over, but nothing as impactful as we’ve seen over the past few weeks.”

Longley said temperatures will gradually rise into the 30s, and added it could approach 40 by Tuesday and even up to 47 on Wednesday.

“It will be hard for any snow that will fall to accumulate on the ground,” he said. “It’s getting mild out there, which will help (melt) the snow a little bit.”

So, are we out of the woods yet?

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we are out of the worst of it,” Longley said. “We still have March to go, (so) you can’t rule out any major storms as well.”

Amy Marchiano contributed to this report.