Winter Storm — Bucks, Pennsylvania

2010-02-09 to 2010-02-11 · Bucks, Pennsylvania

Wider weather episode

For the second time within a week a major winter storm affected Eastern Pennsylvania on the 10th and 11th and smashed seasonal snowfall records in the Philadelphia area. Snowfall averaged one to two feet with some locally higher amounts in the Philadelphia northwest suburbs.

Around the local Philadelphia area, snow began during the early evening on the 9th. As warmer air moved in aloft, the snow changed to sleet and freezing rain between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. EST on the 10th. Surface temperatures responded slower and the sleet and freezing rain changed over to rain during the morning of the 10th. Some sleet mixed in from time to time. As the low pressure system moved northeast of the region, the rain changed back to snow by Noon EST on the 10th and fell heavy at times during the afternoon. Winds also increased and started to down snow laden tree limbs and trees. The snow ended late in the evening on the 10th. In the rest of Eastern Pennsylvania, snow began during the evening of the 9th and fell at its heaviest from the late morning into the afternoon of the 10th. The snow ended during the evening of the 10th.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell declared a state of disaster emergency. Many counties, cities and municipalities issued their own snow and/or states of emergencies. Even Pennsylvania Power and Light declared its own snow emergency. Many city, federal, social and county offices as well as courthouses were closed on the 10th and 11th. Many municipal meetings were postponed. Interstates 76, 176, 476, 676 and 78 were all closed on the afternoon of the 10th and reopened on the 11th. The Pennsylvania National Guard was activated to assist stranded motorists and to assist people without power in southeastern Pennsylvania with food and blankets. Schools were closed on the 10th and 11th, some even on the 12th. Many businesses were closed on the 10th. Philadelphia International Airport was closed on the 10th and reopened on the afternoon of the 11th. SEPTA regional rail and bus service was suspended in southeastern Pennsylvania on the 10th and 11th. Because the heavy snow clung to the trees first and then the winds increased, PECO Energy suffered its worst winter time power outage (9th highest overall) since the ice storm of January 1994. About 225,000 homes and businesses lost power. Several shelters were opened in the Philadelphia suburbs. Power was not fully restored until the 13th. About 8,500 Pennsylvania Power and light customers lost power, their power was fully restored by the 11th. Many school districts ran out of snow days and municipal snow removal budgets were exceeded. Trash collections were postponed. The combination of the two heavy snow events within a week started causing roof collapses in the Philadelphia suburbs. No injuries occurred.

The combination of heavy snow and then the increasing wind caused many pine trees to snap and/or be uprooted in and around Philadelphia. It was the 9th highest power outage in PECO Energy's history. They had 1,549 outage events and about 225,000 customers affected. Outages by county were 60,500 in Chester, 55,000 in Delaware, 47,650 Bucks, 44,700 in Montgomery and 17,000 in Philadelphia. All power was restored by the 13th. The utility replaced 56 miles of cable, 50 transformers, 51 poles, replaced or reconnected 8,000 fuses, and 1,550 pole top cross arms. Damage to the infrastructure was estimated at 15 million dollars.

In Philadelphia, a 65-year-old man and a 66-year-old man died from heart attacks shoveling snow. Schools remained closed through the 12th. In Bucks County, the mid section (Middletown, Northampton, Yardley, Bristol, Upper and Lower Makefield) of the county was hardest hit by the power outages. There were 220 separate outages. Three shelters were opened. A tin and wood storage building in Middletown collapsed. In Montgomery County, the outages were centered around Lower Merion, Abington, Cheltenham, Upper and Lower Moreland, Upper Dublin and Ambler. In Pottstown, the roof of a modular building collapsed. Porches collapsed in Narberth and Royersford. In Springfield Township, an ice skating rink was evacuated after the roof's trusses started to pop. In Chester County, a storage building collapsed in West Chester, a Farmer's Market Building collapsed in Caln Township.

In Berks County, two separate tractor-trailer jackknifes initiated the closure of Interstate 78. This also led to the chain reaction closing of Interstates 176, 76, 476 and 676 in southeastern Pennsylvania. About 200 motorists and 180 tractor-trailers were stranded for up to 12 hours on a five mile stretch of Interstate 78 as large drifts occurred. While most of the interstates were opened on the morning of the 11th, westbound I78 was not reopened until that afternoon. About 3,000 homes and businesses lost power in Berks County, 2,100 in Boyerstown and 900 in Reading. Power was restored on the 11th. Ironically in Spring Township, the roof of a commercial building collapsed and damaged twenty snow throwers. In Boyertown, the entire roof of a two story commercial building collapsed on East Philadelphia Avenue. In Lower Alsace Township, the roof of a two car garage collapsed. In Reading, the third floor of a large brick building on Buttonwood Street collapsed. Several canopies, awnings and overhangs also collapsed. In the Lehigh Valley, about 4,500 homes and businesses lost power in Bethlehem, Upper Saucon, Coopersburg, Easton and Bangor. A porch collapsed in Emmaus (Northampton County).

Representative snowfall included 26.8 inches in East Nantmeal (Chester County), 26.1 inches in South Coventry (Chester County), 23.3 inches in Boyertown (Berks County), 23.0 inches in Eagleville (Montgomery County), 21.0 inches in Perkasie (Bucks County), 20.0 inches in Reading (Berks County), Collegeville (Montgomery County) and Boothwyn (Delaware County), 19.5 inches in Rockledge (Philadelphia County), 19.3 inches in Furlong (Bucks County), 19.0 inches in Nazareth (Northampton County), 18.0 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County) and Caln (Chester County), 17.8 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 17.5 inches in Albrightsville (Carbon County), 17.1 inches in Bethlehem (Northampton County), 17.0 inches in Drexel Hill (Delaware County), Blue Bell (Montgomery County) and Pine Valley (Philadelphia County), 16.5 inches in West Chester (Chester County), 16.1 inches in Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 15.8 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport, 15.6 inches in Easton (Northampton County), 15.1 inches in Schnecksville (Lehigh County), 15.0 inches in Emmaus (Lehigh County), 14.0 inches in Honey Brook (Chester County), 13.9 inches in Green Lane (Montgomery County), 11.0 inches in Langhorne (Bucks County) and 9.0 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County).

Only 10 days into February and the 44.9 inches of snow that already fallen within the month at the Philadelphia International Airport established a new snowfall record for February. The seasonal total of 72.1 inches of snow to date already made it the snowiest season on record surpassing the previous record of 65.5 inches set in 1995-6.

Peak wind gusts included 46 mph in Mount Pocono (Monroe County), 41 mph at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and Doylestown (Bucks County), 37 mph at Willow Grove (Montgomery County) and the Philadelphia International Airport and 36 mph in Reading (Berks County).

The low pressure system responsible for the latest winter storm emerged from the Big Bend of Texas on the morning of the 8th. It moved northeast and reached the Tennessee Valley on the morning of the 9th. At 7 p.m. EST on the 9th, it was located near Charleston, South Carolina. It then moved northnortheast and was near Norfolk, Virginia at 1 a.m. EST on the 10th, Georgetown, Delaware at 7 a.m. EST on the 10th, Atlantic City, New Jersey at 10 a.m. EST on the 10th and just east of Seaside Heights, New Jersey at 4 p.m. EST on the 10th. The low pressure system then drifted slowly east the rest of the afternoon into the overnight of the 10th. The pass of the low pressure system into New Jersey permitted warmer air aloft and at the surface to make it into the local Philadelphia area during the first half of the day on the 10th, before the heavier snow and then the stronger winds returned. The heaviest snow occurred just to the north and west of this changeover in the Philadelphia northwest suburbs.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 212808. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.