Extreme Cold/Wind Chill — Somerset, Pennsylvania

2025-01-20 to 2025-01-22 · Somerset, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

An extended period of well-below average temperatures across Somerset County allowed for wind chills to generally range between -20 to -25 degrees during the early morning hours of January 21, 2025 with temperatures remaining well-below average throughout the daytime hours. Colder air began to settle in during the evening hours of January 21st with temperatures dropping steadily overnight, allowing for wind chills to range between -20 and -25 degrees across much of the county. The lowest wind chill across the county was reported in Meyersdale, where a wind chill of -27 degrees was observed during the early morning hours of January 22, 2025. This period of extreme cold resulted in one fatality, where a 73-year-old man in Elk Lick Township was found dead in his home with no heating on January 22, 2025 after not being able to be contacted for multiple days.

Wider weather episode

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.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1225583. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.