"We don't advise people to travel unless it is absolutely necessary," Sosnowski said. He added that this morning's snow is not as treacherous as the freezing rain that is forecast for later today and tomorrow.

"That is a different story," he said.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said the university usually waits until about 4 a.m. to decide whether to cancel classes. He added that officials are constantly corresponding with Penn State University Police, Office of Physical Plant (OPP) personnel and representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to evaluate weather conditions throughout the day.

Any decision to cancel classes later in the day because of icy conditions would be disseminated to students as quickly as possible through various media outlets, including local television and radio stations and the Penn State Web site, Mahon said.

Temperatures are forecasted to remain well below the freezing mark for most of the storm.

But Sosnowski said a layer of warm air high in the atmosphere will cause precipitation to initially fall as a liquid before freezing and causing icy conditions on the ground.

The arctic weather forecasted to exit with the storm should be a welcomed change for personnel responding to water pipes bursting in buildings on campus.

John Redmond, dispatcher for university police, said officers have been responding to a lot of alarms recently caused by water pipes bursting because of the cold weather.

Three incidents occurred Saturday.

Broken pipes from a frozen radiator on the second floor of the Business Administration Building caused water to discharge and leak into the first story of the building, which OPP has repaired.

Another pipe burst on the second floor of Oswald Building, and a third pipe burst in Wagner Building. The cost of damages for the three incidents is unknown.

Redmond said that in all cases of this nature, OPP workers are dispatched immediately to minimize the damage and fix the problems as soon as possible.

"We are right on the ball," Redmond said.

University police, said police have been getting a lot of alarms recently caused by water pipes bursting due to the cold weather.

Three incidents occurred Saturday.

Broken pipes from a frozen radiator on the second floor of the Business Administration Building caused water to discharge and leak into the first story of the building. OPP made repairs and a value of the damage was unknown.

Another pipe burst on the second floor of Oswald Building, causing an unknown amount of damages to offices in the building.

A third pipe burst in Wagner Building, and a damage value for that incident is also unknown.

Redmond said that in all cases of this nature, OPP workers are dispatched immediately to minimize the damage and fix the problems as soon as possible.

"We are right on the ball," Redmond said.