Only two days into the spring season, State College reverted back to the snow days of weeks past.

A snowstorm and abnormal weather prompted the State College Police Department to close a section of the 322 bypass yesterday afternoon for about an hour due to hazardous traveling conditions, said Sgt. Chris Fishel.

"The roads were so icy that if anybody traveled on it, they'd wipe out," Fishel said.

Motorists were stranded on 322 before a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) truck arrived to salt the 322 roadway, he said.

Ray Scheetz, of Palmyra, Pa, who was returning home after a Penn State visit, said he had been stuck in traffic for about an hour on 322 even though the roads were not dangerous.

"I don't know why it's backed up," Scheetz said. "[The roads] are not bad at all."

PennDOT maintenance manager Ron Chubb said snowplows were operating on one shift from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. when the snow started.

"About 2 o'clock, the rain changed to snow, and we kept people on overtime," he said. "Hopefully by 10:30 or 11, it'll be cleaned up."

Weather conditions caused a car traveling in the 500 block of White Hall Road to strike a natural gas mane, Fishel said.

The gas company, police department, fire department, emergency rescue team and police officers responded to prevent an explosion, he said.

"It's not real serious," Fishel said. "They just have to take their time of it."

State College Police also responded to several minor accidents throughout the day, he added.

No weather-related incidents occurred on campus during the snowstorm yesterday, Penn State University Police Dispatcher Matthew Fultz said.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said the university was operating normally during the day, but Continuing Education classes were canceled in the evening.

Accuweather meteorologist John Dlugoenski said snow is not expected for the rest of the week.

"Temperatures will be remaining below normal, but warm enough for rain. It looks like we'll see rain on Friday and Sunday afternoon or Sunday night," he said.

Typically, at least one snow event is seen after the first day of spring, Dlugoenski said.

"It's not out of the question to see another small accumulation of snow," he said.

Dlugoenski said the storm started with light precipitation at 4:30 a.m., then turned to sleet at 7 a.m and eventually turned into rain at noon.

At 1:30 p.m., the precipitation turned into snow, he added.

"Generally, the State College area had about three to four inches," Dlugoenski said.

The Patton Township Police Department declared a snow emergency at 4:15 p.m. yesterday in order to allow for snow removal from the streets, according to a press release.

Chubb said the low road temperature and the quick snow accumulation were both major factors in the road conditions.

"The roads were wet and it was 29 degrees, so it just packed on there," Chubb said. "The intensity it came down with, it packed on quick."