Winter Storm — Southern Erie, Pennsylvania

2023-12-18 to 2023-12-19 · Southern Erie, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

Low pressure tracked up the East Coast and into Quebec on December 18th. Behind this low pressure, wrap-around moisture and a series of troughs set off light snow across the region from December 18th into early December 19th. At the same time cold northwest winds picked up moisture off of Lake Erie, leading to moderate to heavy lake enhanced snow into Erie County, especially south of I-90. The heaviest snow occurred between the evening hours of December 18th and the early morning hours of December 19th. Snow rates exceeded 1' per hour at times. A trained spotter measured 12.9' of snow in Waterford, the highest amount from the storm. Other selected totals from trained spotters include 11.6' in Edinboro, 9.3' in Colt Station and 8.5' in Union City. A CoCoRaHS observer in Corry measured 8'. The moderate to heavy snow was accompanied by wind gusts of 30 to 40 MPH, leading to reduced visibility at times. Roads were snow covered and slick and accidents resulted.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure tracked up the East Coast and into Quebec on December 18th. Behind this low pressure, wrap-around moisture and a series of troughs set off light snow across the region from December 18th into early December 19th. At the same time cold northwest winds picked up moisture off of Lake Erie, leading to moderate to heavy lake enhanced snow southeast of the lake in parts of Northwest Pennsylvania. The heaviest snow occurred in the higher elevations southeast of Lake Erie between the evening hours of December 18th and the early morning hours of December 19th. Snow rates exceeded 1' per hour at times with storm total amounts reaching 7 to nearly 13 inches in the higher elevations in parts of Erie and Crawford Counties. A trained spotter measured 12.9' of snow in Waterford, the highest amount from the storm. Other select totals include trained spotters measuring 12' in Venango, 11.6' in Edinboro and 10.5' in Cambridge Springs. The moderate to heavy snow was accompanied by wind gusts of 30 to 40 MPH, leading to reduced visibility at times. Roads were snow covered and slick and accidents resulted.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1153617. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.