Tuesday's white and wintry storm was just a preview of coming attractions, according to forecasters.

"It's a pretty good weather pattern for snow if you're hoping for a white Christmas," Eric Horst, Millersville University meteorologist, said today.

The roller coaster of cold and wet weather, alternating with dry air and warmer temperatures, will continue through the week, Horst said, ending with snow Sunday morning.

It's too early to tell just how much snow we may get, Horst said, but the patterns are in place for "several hours" of snow.

And the temperatures may stay cold enough to keep it white for Christmas.

"It's a very active pattern," Horst said, predicting drier, breezy weather today and tomorrow, followed by rain on Friday.

The pattern repeats: dry and breezy again Saturday, followed by snow Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

     AccuWeather forecast

Tuesday's snowfall, mixed with sleet and freezing rain, resulted in about 1.5 to 3 inches of snow across the county, Horst said.

Brickerville, Rothsville and Elizabethtown reported about 2 to 3 inches, Horst said, with Manheim Township and Millersville measuring just over an inch.

Today's temperatures should reach into the 40s, Horst said, which should melt any lingering snow or ice, making roads and sidewalks safer for travel tonight when the mercury dips below freezing.

Police across the county reported several dozen traffic accidents overnight due to the slippery road conditions.

Luckily, most Lancaster County motorists managed to navigate the roads without incident and none of the accidents resulted in serious injuries, police said.

The state Department of Transportation sent 66 trucks out before dawn on Tuesday to treat county roads.

After midnight, another crew of trucks went back out to treat the major  highways throughout Lancaster County.

Early this morning, Manheim Township Police shut down Route 30 near Route 283 for several hours.

"You couldn't stand on it,"  Manheim Township Police Sgt. Jeff Jones said of the slick road conditions.  "I had to hold onto my car just to keep upright."

Police eventually closed Route 30 from about  3:15  to 4:30 a.m.

Just after 2:30 a.m,  police said a sport utility vehicle driven by John Herr, 44, of Lititz, slammed into the back of township police Officer Christopher Keenan's cruiser, parked on the shoulder of westbound Route 30 with its emergency flashing lights activated.

Luckily, Keenan was outside the cruiser, gathering information from an earlier accident when his vehicle was struck. Herr escaped with facial injuries, but both vehicles were seriously damaged.

The sun will break through on Thursday, but clouds will return on Friday, bringing a wintry mix of either sleet or freezing rain throughout the day.

Sunshine returns Saturday, but not for long, Horst said.

"I'm confident that it will start out as all snow," late Saturday night into early Sunday morning, Horst said. "We'll have several hours of snowfall, possibly changing over to ice by mid-day and afternoon."

(Staff writer John M. Hoober III contributed to this report).


Staff writer Janet Kelley can be reached at jkelley@LNPnews.com or 481-6026.