Heavy Snow Leads to School Closings, Event Cancellations in Rochester

Update, 1 p.m.: The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office responded to 91 traffic-related incidents from 3 p.m. through 9 a.m. today, they announced. Included in the incidents were six personal injury accidents, all with minor injuries, 76 property damage accidents, eight road run-offs and one hit and run accident.

Update, 9:25 a.m.: Crews from the Road Commission for Oakland County have been out "all night and will continue to do cleanup all day today," according to a post on the commission's Facebook page on Wednesday morning.

Across Rochester and Rochester Hills, residents are slowly reporting sightings of snow plows around town.

Cancellations to report: The Community Bookmobile for the Rochester Hills Public Library will not going to the ACE or Knolls North stops this morning due to the road conditions. The Bookmobile hopes to be on the road this afternoon. 

5:45 a.m.: A mix of rain, sleet and heavy snow Tuesday into Wednesday morning resulted in the third "snow day" of the 2012-13 school year for Rochester Community Schools. 

The district announced the school closing, due to "heavy snow accumulation" early Wednesday morning.

All evening school activities are cancelled, with the exception of varsity athletic practices for sports involved in MHSAA state competitions. High school parent teacher conferences planned for Wednesday night will be re-scheduled for sometime in March.

Almost 500 school closings were reported Wednesday across southeast Michigan, according to various news reports.  Avondale Schools was closed; so were Holy Family, St. John Lutheran and Lutheran High Northwest in Rochester Hills.

Oakland University is also closed Wednesday.

The wintry mix began in Rochester shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday. It started as sleet, then turned to a slushy snow. About 3 inches of snow covered the ground before midnight. 

According to the National Weather Service, the snow was expected to continue Wednesday into Thursday morning. Temperatures were expected to be in the low 30s Wednesday; an additional 1 to 2 inches of snow were predicted. 

Adhering to their policy, RARA (Rochester Avon Recreation Association) has closed and all activities are cancelled Wednesday.

What else is closed? Post closings or cancellations here; check back with Rochester Patch throughout today for updates on the winter storm.