Hello, winter

Mother Nature dumped 2 to 7 inches of snow throughout most of the region Wednesday morning - and if that alone wasn't a sign winter is almost here, the chilling temperatures expected through Friday night just might.

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service in State College said a few flakes may fly through this morning, but a cold front will drop temperatures into the teens across Blair and neighboring counties through early Saturday. Wind chill values could be as low as zero tonight into Friday.

"It's going to get a lot colder - probably the coldest we've seen this season," National Weather Service meteorologist David Beachler said.

The wind will also continue to pick up, he said, with gusts as high as 40 mph in some spots, making it seem much colder.

The good news: The region shouldn't see another storm for a week, Beachler said.

The bad news: The frigid temperatures the area will see in the coming days will cause melting snow to freeze and could potentially create some havoc on area roads.

Through early afternoon Wednesday, area 911 departments reported few weather-related incidents overnight.

Cambria 911 officials said they only had a few reports of accidents early Wednesday - one in northern Cambria County and one to the south - but both were minor and no injuries were reported.

They received no reports of power outages, downed trees or wires, a supervisor said.

It was the same story in Blair County early Wednesday, 911 officials there said, noting wintry morning roads yielded only a few minor fender benders with no injuries.

"We had a few [weather-related] jobs this morning but technically, it wasn't too bad, all things considered," said Howdy Eckenrod, who runs Eckenrod's Towing on West High Street, Ebensburg. "Just two or three cars that slid off the road."

The weather brought enough winter precipitation to close some schools in Bedford, Blair and Cambria counties, while putting others on two-hour delays.

Centre County may have been the hardest hit, with parts of the county, including Philipsburg, receiving 6 inches of snow by early Wednesday.

Much of Cambria received 2 to 3 inches of snow, although higher elevations picked up more, Beachler said. Nanty Glo reported 5 inches and in Blair, Bellwood reported nearly 6 inches of snow while Altoona received slightly more than 3 inches, the national weather service reported.

Other areas in the state had more trouble.

The storm downed power lines, toppled trees and caused many accidents in northeastern Pennsylvania, where many areas saw as much as 7 inches of snow.

Weather and poor road conditions also made it difficult for emergency vehicles to get to the scene of a house fire in the Poconos.

And in the northwest, winds gusting to about 60 mph knocked down trees, damaged some roofs and left about 3,500 people without power in the Erie area Wednesday morning.

Mirror Staff Writer David Hurst is at 946-7457. The Associated Press contributed to this report.