Cold/Wind Chill in Dauphin, Pennsylvania

An extended period of well-below average temperatures across Dauphin County allowed for wind chills across localized cold areas to range between -10 to -15 degrees during the early morning hours on January 21, 2025. Temperatures did warm throughout the day; however, cold wind chills were observed again during the early morning hours of January 22, 2025 with much of the county reaching into the -10 to -15 degree range. The lowest wind chill of -18 degrees was reported in Paxtonia during the early morning hours of January 22, 2025.

An area of departing surface low-pressure coupled with an enhanced upper-level trough dipping down across the eastern United States allowed for an extended period of cold air across central Pennsylvania beginning January 20, 2025. Gradient winds aloft allowed for breezy winds beginning on January 20 and continuing through January 22, 2025, which allowed for dangerously cold wind chills to settle in across much of central Pennsylvania. A transient area of surface high pressure on the evening of January 21, 2025 allowed for less cloud cover, leading to more widespread cold conditions, allowing for all of central Pennsylvania to experience well-below average temperatures with all locations dropping below zero wind chills through the morning of January 22. This extended period of cold temperatures caused two fatalities: one in Elk Lick Township (Somerset County) and another in Johnstown (Cambria County), both deaths were attributed to hypothermia.