NEWS

Area was due for April snow, Greencastle weather observer says

Shawn Hardy
Echo Pilot

Some of the kids hunting Easter eggs in the grass at Tayamentasachta on Saturday afternoon, April 16, wore shorts and T-shirts.

By the same time two days later, the grounds of the Greencastle-Antrim School District’s environmental center were blanketed with white.

A cardinal sits on a snow covered tree Monday near Greencastle, which saw more than 3.5 inches of accumulation. (Photo: By Colleen McGrath/Herald-Mail)

At his home just down Leitersburg Street from the site of the Greencastle Lions Club Easter egg hunt, weather observer Robert Wertime measured 3.5-plus inches of accumulation when the snow ended at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

Photo gallery:Greencastle Lions Club holds Easter egg hunt

Community's Green Thumb:Tree dedicated to the 84-year-old woman who makes Greencastle bloom

“This is on the order of a 100-year event,” Wertime said, although he wasn’t entirely surprised by the measurable late-season snow and thinks flurries are possible this year into early May.

His late father, Rudolf Wertime, would talk about an 18-inch snowfall April 19 to 21, 1918, Wertime recalled.

Sophia Statler, 6, was among the youngsters who enjoyed the sunshine at the Greencastle Lions Club’s Easter egg hunt on Saturday, April 16, at Tayamentasachta. Two days later, the site was blanketed with 3.5 inches of snow. (Photo: Shawn Hardy)

“He was 6 and remembered it well,” Wertime said.

It has snowed as late as April 7 or 8 various times over the last 15 years and 2 to 3 inches fell in the area on April 8, 1982.

Local residents of a certain age also may recall the Easter Sunday snow on March 29, 1970.

“We went to church in that snow,” Wertime said.

“There are very few snows, as a rule, in April,” according to Wertime, but he had a hunch this might be the year.

Toby Boyer, 1, and his sister, Charley Boyer, 3, dressed for warm weather at the Greencastle Lions Club’s Easter egg hunt on Saturday, April 16, at Tayamentasachta. On Monday, coats were needed as more than 3.5 inches of snow fell on the community. (Photo: Shawn Hardy)

When people started asking him about the winter forecast in September, he advised we were probably due for snow in April.

The snow melted quickly Tuesday and temperatures will slowly warm into the 70s by the weekend.

However, factors like frontal systems, wind currents and other weather patterns make Wertime think there are still chances for snow flurries before the month is through.

“After early May, it should be over,” he assured.

Shawn Hardy is a reporter with Gannett's Franklin County newspapers in south-central Pennsylvania — the Echo Pilot in Greencastle, The Record Herald in Waynesboro and the Public Opinion in Chambersburg. She has more than 35 years of journalism experience. Reach her at shardy@gannett.com