Next severe storm might spare Phila. region

Yesterday, the region was spared the brunt of a major storm that dumped snow across the Midwest and New England.

Over the weekend, we could luck out once again.

This morning, some icy spots and dense fog slowed morning commutes, but the problems were minor compared to those experienced by much of the Midwest and other parts of the Northeast. The storm caused dozens of deaths, disrupted power for more than 1 million customers, and left more than a foot of snow in parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Tomorrow, a secord major storm will sweep eastward, threatening to bring more than a foot of snow to mountainous parts of northern Pennsylvania, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Fitzgerald.

In the Philadelphia area, however, the forecast calls only for a chance of light snow tomorrow evening, turning into mostly rain after midnight.

"It looks like it's going to be a relatively quick changeover to sleet and rain overnight," AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Tom Kines said this morning. "I don't think there will be much accumulation in the city. Maybe an inch or two."

"In terms of snow in the city, it's really a non-event," he added. "Far western and northern suburbs may get inch or two, but even there it's going over to rain."

For the latest forecast, go to http://go.philly.com/weather.

Today, the dense fog that blanketed the Philadelphia area overnight began to lift by daybreak. Temperatures should reach the mid-40s this aftenoon.

In Pennsylvania, yesterday's storm system caused scattered road closings and power outages, hundreds of school closings and warnings about flooding in the southwestern part of the state. A power outage cut electricity to about 7,800 customers in Lancaster County. In Harrisburg, most of what came down fell as rain.