Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato declared a countywide emergency around 2:30 p.m. Monday as the region continues to struggle with snowy roads following Sunday’s storm.

A press release from Innamorato’s office noted the declaration enables the county to “bypass normal procedures” to deploy resources for storm recovery.

Non-essential county functions like parks, facilities and administrative offices will be closed Tuesday, as they were on Monday.

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services said that in recent days outreach teams have been urging people living outside to come to shelters, and that work is expected to continue. The department is aware of just two occupied tents in the area. 

The county has more than 600 shelter beds this season and space remains available in the winter shelter in Perry South, where nightly populations have averaged around 110 with around 30 empty beds, but hit 139 on Saturday night. The shelter, normally closed during the day, is now open 24 hours.

“During extreme weather, we do not have a specific capacity cap, because we flex capacity, so no one is turned away,” department spokesperson Cydney Cooper wrote to Public Source. 

There is also space for adults without children at Second Avenue Commons in Uptown. To address transportation challenges, that facility has opened its engagement center to people who need a place to stay when transportation to other shelters is impossible.

The county is making emergency accommodations for families with children, who are always prioritized, said Cooper.

Adults without children in need of shelter are encouraged to visit Second Avenue Commons or call the Allegheny Link. Families with children experiencing homelessness in Allegheny County should call the Link at 1-866-730-2368. The county plans to conduct its annual count of people sleeping outdoors on the night of February 3.

In Pittsburgh, 37 of some 80 trucks failed

Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor declared a state of emergency in the city Monday morning after dozens of snow plows were disabled overnight, leaving secondary roads largely uncleared after almost a foot of snow fell on Sunday.

The city’s Snow Response Dashboard indicated that some neighborhoods had received little attention as of late Monday afternoon.

The emergency declaration enables the city to bring in outside contractors, the mayor said, to aid in clearing snow.

“We were doing a very very good job until we lost a lot of our equipment,” O’Connor said at a 9:30 a.m. press conference Monday. “… We understand streets haven’t been touched. … We ask people to be patient.”

The snowfall amounted to the city’s second snowiest day since the 1990s, trailing only the 2010 “Snowmageddon” event.

O’Connor said the diminished city crews focused on main roads Sunday and overnight into Monday.

“The issue with that is the buildup on our side streets,” O’Connor said. 

He said 37 city trucks “went down last night,” a big hit to the city’s approximately 80-truck snow fleet, and 50 or more trucks are currently out on the streets. The fleet was already in a delicate position after years of deferred maintenance, which was one factor in City Council’s decision to raise taxes in December.

He declined to provide a timeframe for clearance of secondary and tertiary roads.

Garbage collection will be postponed again on Tuesday, meaning collection will be two days later than normal this week. City warming centers are open Monday (click here for locations and hours).

Pittsburgh Public Schools announced a remote teaching and learning day for Tuesday. The district was closed Monday. 

The city avoided widespread utility outages Sunday and officials said hospitals and emergency response systems were stable, but Pittsburgh Regional Transit shut down early before resuming Monday and some grocery stores and medical express care centers were closed. 

Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.

Rich Lord contributed.

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Pittsburgh, Allegheny County declare emergencies after snow storm

by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source
January 26, 2026

<h1>Pittsburgh, Allegheny County declare emergencies after snow storm</h1> <p class="byline">by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />January 26, 2026</p> <p>Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato declared a countywide emergency around 2:30 p.m. Monday as the region continues to struggle with snowy roads following Sunday’s storm.</p> <p>A press release from Innamorato’s office noted the declaration enables the county to “bypass normal procedures” to deploy resources for storm recovery.</p> <p>Non-essential county functions like parks, facilities and administrative offices will be closed Tuesday, as <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-utilities-intact-amid-heavy-snowfall/">they were on Monday</a>.</p> <p>The Allegheny County Department of Human Services said that in recent days outreach teams have been urging people living outside to come to shelters, and that work is expected to continue. The department is aware of just two occupied tents in the area.&nbsp;</p> <p>The county has more than 600 shelter beds this season and space remains available in the winter shelter in Perry South, where nightly populations have averaged around 110 with around 30 empty beds, but hit 139 on Saturday night. The shelter, normally closed during the day, is now open 24 hours.</p> <p>“During extreme weather, we do not have a specific capacity cap, because we flex capacity, so no one is turned away,” department spokesperson Cydney Cooper wrote to Public Source.&nbsp;</p> <p>There is also space for adults without children at Second Avenue Commons in Uptown. To address transportation challenges, that facility has opened its engagement center to people who need a place to stay when transportation to other shelters is impossible.</p> <p>The county is making emergency accommodations for families with children, who are always prioritized, said Cooper.</p> <p>Adults without children in need of shelter are encouraged to visit Second Avenue Commons or call the Allegheny Link. Families with children experiencing homelessness in Allegheny County should call the Link at 1-866-730-2368.&nbsp;The county plans to conduct its <a href="https://www.alleghenycounty.us/Services/Human-Services-DHS/Engagement/Volunteer-Opportunities/Community-Counts">annual count</a> of people sleeping outdoors on the night of February 3.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260125-Snow-Total-Pittsburgh-12.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1328539" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A person braces against the blowing snow in Downtown on Jan. 25. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)</figcaption></figure> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-in-pittsburgh-37-of-some-80-trucks-failed"><strong>In Pittsburgh, 37 of some 80 trucks failed</strong></h2> <p>Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor declared a state of emergency in the city Monday morning after dozens of snow plows were disabled overnight, leaving secondary roads largely uncleared after almost a foot of snow fell on Sunday.</p> <p>The city's <a href="https://pittsburghpa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/0dcad55f65b14d38b6e0bcf4804fcd1c">Snow Response Dashboard</a> indicated that some neighborhoods had received little attention as of late Monday afternoon.</p> <p>The emergency declaration enables the city to bring in outside contractors, the mayor said, to aid in clearing snow.</p> <p>“We were doing a very very good job until we lost a lot of our equipment,” O’Connor said at a 9:30 a.m. press conference Monday. “... We understand streets haven’t been touched. … We ask people to be patient.”</p> <p>The snowfall amounted to the city’s second snowiest day since the 1990s, trailing only the 2010 “Snowmageddon” event.</p> <p>O’Connor said the diminished city crews focused on main roads Sunday and overnight into Monday.</p> <p>“The issue with that is the buildup on our side streets,” O’Connor said.&nbsp;</p> <p>He said 37 city trucks “went down last night,” a big hit to the city’s approximately 80-truck snow fleet, and 50 or more trucks are currently out on the streets. The fleet was already in a delicate position after years of deferred maintenance, which was one factor in City Council’s decision to raise taxes in December.</p> <p>He declined to provide a timeframe for clearance of secondary and tertiary roads.</p> <p>Garbage collection will be postponed again on Tuesday, meaning collection will be two days later than normal this week. City warming centers are open Monday (<a href="https://www.pittsburghpa.gov/News-articles/Homepage/CitiParks-Warming-Centers-Activated-on-Monday-January-26-2026">click here for locations and hours</a>).</p> <p>Pittsburgh Public Schools announced a remote teaching and learning day for Tuesday. The district was closed Monday.&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260125-Snow-Total-Pittsburgh-09.jpg" alt="A snow-covered alley at night with a few people walking, footprints in the snow, and illuminated buildings on either side." class="wp-image-1328524" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Footprints in the snow lead down Strawberry Way in Downtown on Jan. 25. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)</figcaption></figure> <p>The city <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-utilities-intact-amid-heavy-snowfall/">avoided widespread utility outages</a> Sunday and officials said hospitals and emergency response systems were stable, but Pittsburgh Regional Transit shut down early before resuming Monday and some grocery stores and medical express care centers were closed.&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at </em><em>charlie@publicsource.org</em><em>.</em></p> <p><em>Rich Lord contributed.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-emergency-declaration-plows-snow-removal/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1328534&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-emergency-declaration-plows-snow-removal/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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