Winter Storm — Chester, Pennsylvania

2011-02-01 to 2011-02-02 · Chester, Pennsylvania

Wider weather episode

A protracted winter storm dropped several inches of sleet and snow in the Poconos and included a long period of freezing rain that produced ice accretions of up to half an inch in the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia suburbs. The ice tore down numerous tree limbs, trees and subsequently wires. Many trees still had snow on them from the winter storm of the previous week to exacerbate the damage. Nearly 300,000 power outages occurred. PECO Energy reported about 185,000 of its southeastern Pennsylvania customers lost power. Power was not completely restored to the last few until the afternoon of the 6th. Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 79,000 of their customers lost power in Eastern and Central Pennsylvania; while Metropolitan Edison reported around 14,000 of its customers lost power in Berks County. Numerous schools cancelled classes on both the 1st and 2nd. Recycling and garbage pick-ups were delayed. This winter storm added additional strains to snow removal budgets and tight salt supplies.

In Northampton County in the Lehigh Valley, numerous crashes occurred on U.S. Route 22, Pennsylvania State Route 33 and Interstate 78. On Interstate 78, a driver swerved to avoid hitting a plow truck and was injured. In Bethlehem, a driver was injured after his vehicle flipped on Schoenersville Road. Also in Bethlehem, a 100 foot section of a porch roof collapsed on the evening of the 2nd on Glendale Avenue from the weight of ice and snow. Three vehicles were damaged. In Berks County, Pennsylvania State Routes 345 (near Birdsboro) and 625 (south of Reading) were closed. Reading, Hamburg, Boyertown, Birdsboro, Barto, Bechtelsville and Douglassville all suffered power outages. In Bucks County, downed wires in Milford caused a basement fire in one home on Sleepy Hollow Road. In Montgomery County, the worst reported tree and ice damage occurred in Lansdale and Hatfield. A utility pole fire in Pottstown knocked out power to the borough's water treatment plant. In Chester County, there were several slip and fall injuries reported, mainly on the 1st. Just east of Exton, Northbound U.S. Route 202 was closed between Pennsylvania State Routes 30 and 401 because of an accident with injuries on the 2nd. Two roadways were closed because of downed trees and wires in North Coventry Township. One roadway was also closed in West Vincent Township. A downed tree damaged a home in West Goshen. There were over 100 reports of downed wires throughout the county.

Precipitation started as snow across the region during the early morning of the 1st. As warmer air moved in aloft, the precipitation changed to sleet and freezing rain by the morning rush in the local Philadelphia area, a mixture of sleet and freezing rain by the end of the morning commute in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley and a wintry mix late in the morning in the Poconos. Precipitation tapered off to mainly freezing drizzle during the afternoon and early evening of the 1st. Heavier precipitation moved in again during the evening of the 1st and fell as freezing rain in the Philadelphia suburbs, a mixture of sleet and freezing rain in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley and mainly a snow and sleet mixture in the Poconos. Overnight colder air moved in aloft in over the Poconos and precipitation changed back to all snow for a few hours. Toward sunrise on the 2nd, this process started to reverse at both the surface and aloft. Warmer air was moving north again and the freezing rain changed to plain rain across the Philadelphia suburbs and Berks County around 8 a.m. EST and the Lehigh Valley around 9 a.m. EST. In the Poconos, precipitation changed to freezing rain around 7 a.m. EST and ended as freezing rain around 11 a.m. EST on the 2nd.

Representative snow and sleet accumulations included 5.4 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 5.0 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County), 3.5 inches in Delaware Water Gap (Monroe County), 2.1 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 1.5 inches in Albrightsville (Carbon County) and 1.0 inch in Easton and Martins Creek (Northampton County). Representative ice accretions included 0.50 inches in Glenmoore (Chester County), Sping Mount (Montgomery County) and Emmaus (Lehigh County), 0.40 inches in East Nantmeal (Chester County) and Lansdale (Montgomery County), 0.38 inches in Kutztown (Berks County) and Allentown (Lehigh County), 0.33 inches in Feasterville (Bucks County) and 0.25 inches in Bangor (Northampton County).

The protracted precipitation event was caused by a pair of low pressure systems. The first low pressure system moved into the upper Ohio River Valley on the morning of the 1st and then weakened during the day. The second and more stronger low pressure system moved northeast from the lower Mississippi Valley during the early afternoon of the 1st into the lower Ohio River Valley during the early evening of the 1st. It continued to move northeast through the Ohio River Valley overnight and reached northwest Pennsylvania at 7 a.m. EST on the 2nd. At the same time, a high pressure system slid across southern Canada and kept a fresh supply of cold air at and near the surface. This considerably slowed the progression of warmer air in Pennsylvania. A secondary low pressure system formed on the low's warm front over the Delmarva Peninsula that morning and moved off the New Jersey coast during the late morning. The offshore passage of this low pressure system ended the precipitation associated with this event.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 284076. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.