SCRANTON, Pa. — The weather has been ideal for a tradition along Interstate 81 in Scranton.
Drivers may have noticed the colors staining the white snow and ice through the I-81 corridor the past few weeks.
When the world turns white each winter, someone stains the snow a collection of bright colors near the River Street exit, creating a piece of ice art that drivers in Scranton have become accustomed to.
The man behind the colorful snow is appropriately named Art.
Art Annacarto lives behind Interstate 81 on Moltke Avenue.
When he saw the forecast a few weeks ago, he knew it was time.
"I watch the ice when I go down the highway. I look and see if it's ready and the temperature is good," he said.
If you've wondered what makes the snow and ice so bright, it's the food coloring that Annacarto buys online in large quantities.
"I get on my ATV. I take it down there, and I hang over the edge, and I poured on there just like the guy who used to do it years ago," he added.
Art isn't the original Ice Artist.
He got the idea from a former neighbor on Moltke Avenue, John Edwartoski, who colored the ice back in the '80s.
"I grew up seeing it since I was a little kid. When he did it, when you got on the highway and we saw it, I thought it was neat. I just thought it was time somebody should do it again," Annacarto said.
Art said he will continue the tradition as long as he is able, during the time of year when the roads of Northeastern Pennsylvania could really use a pop of color.
"Just give joy to the people that drive down the highway, knowing that if I create one smile from one person, that's great," he said.