A winter storm that blanketed Lackawanna County in snow and slowed area traffic won't derail the New Year's Eve celebration in downtown Scranton tonight.
Saturday's storm, the second to hit the region in the last week, dumped about 5 inches of snow across Northeast Pennsylvania, said AccuWeather meteorologist Mike Pigott.
Despite the slick roads and cool temperatures, the 14th annual First Night will move forward as scheduled, project director Paige Balitski said.
"It's a go regardless of the weather," Ms. Balitski said. "It could be 40 degrees below and we would still have it."
Titled "New Year's Eve Around the World" to highlight the city's diversity, the event will kick off at 3 p.m. with family bingo in the Steamtown mall - where most of the activities will be concentrated.
The night's entertainment will also feature Italian and polka bands, Welsh storytelling, Middle Eastern dancers, a magic show and a fireworks display, Ms. Balitski said.
To gain access to the event, people can purchase a $10 First Night button at the Mall at Steamtown customer service desk, Gerrity's supermarkets and Duffy Accessories, 218 Linden St.
"The most exciting part for me is when the first event starts and people are rushing in to participate," said Ms. Balitski, who is hoping for more than 5,000 people to show. "It will be a fun night no matter what the weather turns out to be."
While thousands of people pack downtown, state Department of Transportation officials will be focused on clearing the slush and ice off the roadways, PennDOT spokesman Mike Taluto said.
"Right now, everything is pretty clean, so we are working on a case-by-case basis," said Mr. Taluto, who said crews laid anti-skid material throughout Saturday night to make the roads safer.
City Department of Public Works Director Mark Dougher said crews had been hard at work clearing disabled-accessible walkways and snow to ease parking downtown.
Though it was timely for the First Night celebrations, he said the task would have been completed no matter what events were planned.
"We do it every year anyway," he said of the post-storm work. "We still have a lot of cleanup to do, not necessarily for First Night, but for the businesses downtown."
From 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., nine trucks and at least eight DPW laborers trudged through the snow and slush, clearing Lackawanna, Wyoming, Washington and Franklin avenues and the bridges carrying Lackawanna Avenue and Linden Street over the Lackawanna River. There was still plenty of work to complete, he added.
Snow removal crews worked overtime shifts because the storm came over the weekend, Mr. Dougher explained, noting that waiting to address conditions could lead to ice. Today, the workers planned to resume their efforts. "(Today) we'll keep cleaning up, widening the roads and watching the weather," he said.
Temperatures are expected to remain cold throughout the day, and there is a chance of snow flurries tonight, Mr. Pigott said.
"It won't accumulate, so it shouldn't affect any plans," Mr. Pigott said. "It isn't anything to worry about."
Though he didn't cite specific checkpoints, Mr. Taluto said PennDOT and area police will continue enforcing impaired and aggressive driving as part of "Operation Safe Holiday" - a statewide initiative aimed at keeping roads safe.
Staff writer CAITLIN HEANEY contributed to this report.
Contact the writers: miorfino@timesshamrock.com, rbrown@timesshamrock.com, @miorfinoTT, @rbrownTT on Twitter