Snowstorm in western Pennsylvania leaving Butler County roads completely covered

As all of western Pennsylvania deals with a Sunday snowstorm that is expected to drop up to 16 inches of snow, crews across the region are hard at work, including in Cranberry Township. 

However, with such consistent snowfall, with some areas already seeing nearly six inches of snow, as soon as crews clear the roads, they get re-covered nearly immediately. 

Cranberry Township Director of Public Works, Kelly Maurer, P.E., joined KDKA-TV Sunday Morning News to provide an update on the efforts to get the roads cleared. 

"All roads are snow-covered, from the neighborhood roads to our local roads, to the PennDOT roads, Route 19, Route 228; everyone is out there plowing, but they are snow-covered," Maurer said. 

WATCH: Cranberry Township Director of Public Works joins KDKA-TV Sunday Morning News

She said that crews have been out since early on Sunday morning, getting started at 2 a.m., and they have 17 routes along with 25 crew members. 

"This storm has been elevated, obviously by its intensity, the township has activated its emergency operations center as of 7 a.m. this morning, and it will continue until the storm is over," she said. "That means that myself, fire, EMS, and the township management are all in one room managing the storm."

According to Maurer, it takes crews about three hours to get through a route, and with snow coming fast, it may take some time to get the roads cleared. 

"About one inch per hour [will fall] from about 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.," she explained. "During that time, it takes us about three hours to do a route, so if it's coming down an inch an hour, we're going to see three inches on the road." '

Maurer also said that they're expecting snow to continue through 10 p.m. on Sunday night, and once it begins to slow they'll shift into clean-up mode.