Winter Weather — Somerset, Pennsylvania

2025-01-03 · Somerset, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

SNOW SQUALL. The RWIS station at Garrett Bypass on US-219 reported a visibility drop to below 1/4 mile as a snow squall moved through during the afternoon of January 3, 2025.

Wider weather episode

A surface cold front with marginal instability allowed for snow squalls and bands of heavy snow showers to form across central Pennsylvania during the evening hours of January 3, 2025. These snow squalls were exacerbated by road temperatures just above freezing ahead of the squalls, allowing for road temperatures to quickly drop below freezing and flash freeze potential to increase as the event progressed. A pile-up occurred on Interstate 81 in Lebanon County, with one resultant injury reported. Heavy snow bands also caused incidents in Cumberland and Centre Counties, with no injuries reported from these incidents.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1225550. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.