The first big snowstorm of the season is rolling in to Western Pennsylvania this Wednesday evening. Just a few days ago forecasts called for nothing more than a dusting from this system, but now predictions are ranging anywhere from 2-8″ in Allegheny County. In what has been a winter without a lot of snow, a heavy accumulation here could help us make a dent in our season snow deficit.

Also at play with this storm is the timing element: with the heaviest accumulation forecast to occur between midnight at 4am, schools might be forced to play the waiting game after a delay is called. If the accumulation does indeed wrap-up before the morning rush, it will simply become a matter of how quickly the road crews can clear everything. We believe most districts in and around Allegheny County will be delayed tomorrow morning:

Snow totals upgraded! School delays very likely tomorrow morning as snow will blanket much of the area overnight. pic.twitter.com/U8DpBIvCFT

— Pittsburgh Snow Day (@pghsnowday) February 8, 2017

We are confident in our Delay Predictions, but we should point out that Scott Harbaugh from WPXI has some far more conservative delay predictions:

DELAY CHANCE TWEET THURSDAY! Open it up and good luck tomorrow. No slam dunks but a 50/50 chance or better for much of the area. pic.twitter.com/AhzNRwZz0E

— Scott Harbaugh (@WPXIScott) February 8, 2017

As usual, here is the forecast roundup for all of the outlets we track. Tomorrow evening, after the last flake has fallen, we will revisit this post to assign Accuracy Scores. These scores will be based on a standard A-F scale, and evaluate how close a forecast got to the actual weather results.