Look out the window. If it's cold and snowing, that could be the best news of the day, or week.

	Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette A pedestrian makes his way across Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill last night during the start of the latest winter storm to hit Western Pennsylvania. Click photo for larger image.

Forecasters warned that the region could instead receive freezing rain today, creating the worst possible road conditions as the temperature rises from a long-running cold grip. And it's just the beginning of a series of storms that could hit throughout the week, bringing some variation of snow, ice, sleet, freezing rain or rain almost any day.

Any of those conditions can create problems in winter. The several inches or more of snow across Western Pennsylvania last night caused cars to slide off roads and Greyhound to suspend bus service. School districts throughout the region announced delays or cancellation of today's classes.

Before any new snow fell yesterday, a 12-year-old boy died after he struck a tree in a sledding accident on the Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania campus. Blake Justes was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital about 2 p.m. after being flown there by helicopter, the Allegheny County coroner's office reported.

Water main breaks were rampant over the weekend, particularly in Pittsburgh's South Hills neighborhoods, as temperatures dipped into single digits and even to minus-1 early yesterday.

		Weather forecast Get the latest forecast on our weather page.

A gradual increase in temperatures today may create more problems instead of reducing them, National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Redmond said.

The snow could be replaced by ice today. Temperatures are to remain below freezing today, but any precipitation is expected to fall as liquid rather than snow. Redmond said that's because warmer conditions are being pushed into the air, above surface temperatures.

"We can avoid the worst problems if it stays snow until the precipitation tapers off," he said. "If there's snowfall and then freezing rain, it can fall through the snow and form a coating underneath the snow. That's what I'm hoping we can avoid."

Whether ice or snow, the forecast called for conditions that create slow commutes to work and school disruptions. That's bad enough on a Monday morning, but Redmond warned against counting on much improvement.

The region is caught between a pair of storm systems moving northward, one from the Carolinas and the other from farther inland, from Tennessee. Both carry precipitation, and the inland storm is to stick around after the coastal system moves out. More snow showers are possible after mid-day tomorrow and into Wednesday as temperatures dive again, Redmond said, and another chance for a couple inches of snow exists on Friday.

"We are definitely into our winter of discontent," the meteorologist said. "We seem to have one storm system after another wanting to move through."

Enough snow was lying on the Slippery Rock campus from past storms to bring sledders yesterday to a popular hill next to student housing called Rock Apartments. Trees line the sides of the sledding area, and Justes struck one while riding down on a tube or other inflatable device, said Slippery Rock spokesman Ross Feltz.

He said the boy was with his father and younger sister at the time. Campus police called for emergency transportation, but the boy died from head injuries after being flown to Pittsburgh.

Feltz said many area residents take advantage of the state university's hilly terrain for sledding. It is the first sledding fatality he knows of in his 12 years at Slippery Rock.

"With such an open campus, it would be hard to regulate it," he said.

In some parts of Western Pennsylvania, a lack of water service was a concern, after a series of leaks. Crews from Pennnsylvania-American Water Co., which has 500,000 area customers, had to repair about 25 water main breaks, said spokesman Philip Cynar.

He said the extended cold snap, with single-digit temperatures during the day and even colder nights, has caused the ground to freeze.

"The shifting in the ground does put some stress on our distribution system. I know that we have a number of leaks that are running throughout the system, including in the Beltzhoover, Arlington Heights and Knoxville areas'' of the city, Cynar said.

One of the water main breaks, Cynar said, caused significant damage to Amanda Street in Mount Oliver.

"We have a salt truck that is making its rounds. There is icing because of the water. It's sort of like having a double whammy. The ice adds an additional layer of difficulty for us,'' Cynar said.

Pennsylvania-American Water assigns the highest priority to situations where a water main break creates icing on a street or people are without water, he said.

"We will have bottled water available at the job sites. If people can't make it out, they can call customer service and word will get back to the crew to deliver some water. It helps take the edge off of the temporary inconvenience,'' Cynar said.

Utility workers, Cynar said, were "bracing to deal with even more bad weather,'' because of the storm slated to drop snow and freezing rain in the region.

"It's a tough weekend, weatherwise,'' Cynar said.

The customer service number for Pennsylvania American Water is 1-800-565-7292.