Classic February snow to hit mid-afternoon Friday, February 5, 2010 Jon-Paul Wimer, senior journalist 9:55 AM - Although Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Tuesday and predicted a long winter, forecasters didn’t expect him to be so accurate – however, it is February. A winter storm is heading for the area and forecasters say a significant amount of snow could be left behind before it's all over. A winter storm warning will start at noon today and run through 6 p.m. Saturday. The approaching storm that's expected to blanket the region with heavy snowfall could drop about an inch by this afternoon's rush hour, according to the National Weather Service. Some weather forecasters say this snowfall could drop a significant amount of snow in a short period of time, not since 2008 has there been such a steady snowfall. Forecasters say snow will develop this afternoon and become heavy at times. Between 6 to 12 inches are expected to pile up through Saturday afternoon. The counties under the warning include Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland. According to Lee Hendricks, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, the heavy snowfall is not forecast to hit until after 7 p.m. Between 4 and 8 inches of snow is expected to fall overnight, however. Because of the large snowfall expected early on in the day in some locations, numerous schools around the Pittsburgh area are dismissing their students early, but Ellwood City is not one of them – yet. “As of now we are not dismissing early, but we will check the weather around noon,” said Ellwood City Superintendent Frank Aloi. “If we do [dismiss early], we will coordinate this with our bus company and let the parents know through our Alert Now parent notification system.”