Winter Weather Parking

"Midnight Clear" restricts vehicles in all faculty/staff surface parking lots on campus, including Innovation Park, from midnight through 7 a.m. Resident and off-campus student storage parking areas are not affected, and permit holders should remain parked in their assigned areas. Commuter permit holders must move their vehicles from surface parking lots before midnight, and from campus parking decks before 7:30 a.m.

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Midnight Clear Parking Requirements

To ensure safe and effective snow removal during winter weather events, Penn State Transportation Services—working in coordination with the Office of Physical Plant—requires that vehicles be removed from faculty/staff surface parking lots across campus.

When a Midnight Clear is declared, Transportation Services provides alternative parking accommodations. See below for Midnight Clear rules and a map of available alternative parking areas when restrictions are in place.

No Parking in Faculty/Staff Surface Lots

During announced Midnight Clear events, parking in faculty/staff surface lots is prohibited—including for University vehicles—unless a lot has been designated as an exception.

  • Snow restriction hours: Midnight to 7 a.m.
  • Notifications will be shared via:
    • Variable message boards in key campus areas
    • Penn State News
    • Transportation Services Listserv
    • Social media
    • Email alerts

Overnight Parking Guidelines

Employees who need to leave vehicles on campus overnight during snow removal must use the covered levels of the following parking decks:

  • East Deck
  • Eisenhower Deck
  • HUB Deck
  • Nittany Deck
  • West Deck

Note: Parking on the top level of these decks is not permitted.

  • Core permit holders (Brown, Green, Orange, Red, Silver, Yellow) may park in Eisenhower, Nittany, and West decks on the days following a Midnight Clear.
  • All other users will be charged for parking in these decks.
  • All vehicles must return to their assigned parking areas by 7:30 a.m. to avoid charges.

Additional overnight parking is permitted in designated spaces at:

  • Orange H
  • Orange A Katz
  • Orange U

Vehicles must return to assigned lots by 7:30 a.m. the next business day.

Note: Commuter lot access remains unchanged during Midnight Clear events, but no parking is permitted in these lots from 2 - 4 a.m. nightly.

Resident and Off-Campus Student Storage Lots

Resident and off-campus student storage permit holders must continue to park in their assigned student lots during Midnight Clear events.

Parking Areas

Vehicles parked on campus must move to one of the available locations shown on the interactive map.

Vehicles parked and covered in snow