When he was a boy, Richard Laub, Pottsville, enjoyed the snow, especially when it was more than a foot deep.
"We used to play in it, and build igloos out of snow behind Renniger's Market at the house trailer park, up in the back there," Laub, 50, said Saturday morning in Saint Clair.
The snow that fell Saturday morning wasn't that deep. But for fans of the white stuff, it was a welcome sight, since last year's winter was warm and green.
"This is nice. Last year we didn't have much," Laub said.
"It's nice and fine, too. I could put up with weather like this. It's ideal," said Bob Harrison, 72, of Saint Clair.
In the winter of 2011-12, the average temperatures in Schuylkill County were higher than normal and snowfall was below-average. Since 2000, the average seasonal snowfall in Schuylkill County had been 43.2 inches. The winter with the most snow in that cluster was the winter of 2002-03, when there was 85.2 inches. The winter with the least snow in that cluster was the winter of 2001-02, when there was only 18 inches. The winter of 2011-12 was the second-least with 20.1, the National Weather Service said previously.
At the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program site in Mahanoy City, established in 2000, there was 2.5 inches of snow in November and, before Saturday's storm, there was 4.1 inches of snow in December, Craig Evanego, meteorologist at National Weather Service, State College, said Saturday afternoon.
"I think we're supposed to get three to four inches of snow," Laub said Saturday.
The storm system moving through the Northeast this weekend was expected to bring widespread snowfall to the region. Most areas can expect snowfall of 2 to 4 inches, according to the website for the National Weather Service at www.weather.gov.
"So prior to Saturday, we had about 6.6 inches of snow in Schuylkill County this year. Saturday's snowfall will probably add 4 inches to that," Evanego said.
Laub was staying with a friend at 206 Mill St., Saint Clair, when Ol' Man Winter covered the county with a blanket of snow more than 2 inches deep. At 8:30 a.m., Laub drew back the curtain, eager to see how Mother Nature had turned the world white. By 9 a.m., he was out on the sidewalk clearing a path with a shovel.
But the snow also caused vehicles to slip, slide and, in some cases, crash.
At 12:08 p.m., a tractor-trailer slid on Interstate 81 North in Pine Grove Township overturned and spilled its cargo, which included a chemical detergent, according to state police at Jonestown.
The driver, John D. Nauss, 29, of Bainbridge, Lancaster County, was driving a 2012 Freightliner Casadia north. While following a down-hill left-hand curve, Nauss lost control, crossed into the left lane then left the road and struck a tree near mile marker 103.1, police said.
Nauss was not injured. He will be charged with speeding, police said.
That section of Interstate 81 North was closed for more than seven hours, as responders, including Pine Grove Township firefighters, fire police from the Borough of Pine Grove and officials from the state Department of Transportation evaluated the scene, according to a supervisor from Schuylkill County Communications Center, Pottsville.
Fire police from Joliett were also on scene to detour traffic from Interstate 81 North at Exit 100, according to the communications supervisor.
A heavy-wreaker tow truck was on scene to remove the tractor-trailer. Responders cleaned the detergent from the highway Saturday and will return to the scene today to clean the remains on the berm, according to the communications supervisor.
At 12:30 p.m. on a hill near Minersville Area High School, a group of friends were tackling the snow covered hills with snow saucers. They included Kassidy Hoban, 17, Mercedes Chernosky, 13, and Gabrielle Hoban, 13, all of Minersville.
Harrison was out at 11:15 p.m., using a broom to clean off his sedan, getting ready to run some errands.
"In this, you have to drive slow and watch the other guy," Harrison said.
Harrison, a retired mailman who had worked at the U.S. Post Office in Pottsville, said his career kept him active and in shape.
"I was a city carrier in Pottsville. That exercise keeps a lot of carriers healthy. I guess all those days of working outside paid off," he said. So he had no trouble sweeping the snow off his car Saturday.
Bob Dittmar, Pottsville, spent Saturday morning with a plow and a snow blower. He co-owns Maroons Sports Bar & Grill in Pottsville with his wife, Karen. And he wanted to make sure the sidewalks and the parking lot were clear.
"Snow is pretty to look at, but it's a pain when you're in business," Dittmar said.
Today, there won't be any precipitation, but it will be cold, Evanego said.
While temperatures were in the low 30s Saturday, the high today will be in the upper 20s.
"So, maybe 28," Evanego said.
There's no snow in the forecast this week. The high temperature Monday will be 30 and the high Tuesday will be in the upper 20s, Evanego said.