Heavy Snow — Northern Centre, Pennsylvania

2012-04-22 to 2012-04-23 · Northern Centre, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

Heavy snow amounts ranged between 6 and 10 inches at elevations above 1500ft MSL.

Wider weather episode

A late season nor'easter brought heavy snow to the higher elevations of north-central and western Pennsylvania on April 22-23, 2012. The snowfall generally ranged from 6 to 10 inches, with the heaviest snow recorded in Somerset County. The Laurel Summit cooperative observer measured 23.7 inches of snow. The COOP site, which sits at an elevation of 2,770ft MSL, received 10 inches of snow Sunday night (4/22) and another 13.7 inches during Monday (4/23). Similarly, the nearby Seven Springs ski resort received a total of 18.5 inches of snow. Like many historic early and late season snow events, elevation was critical to snow accumulations. The snow turned to rain at lower elevations over the central ridge and valley areas, so little if any snow accumulated much below 1500 feet MSL.

With the initial bulk of the snow falling after dark on Sunday (4/22), the impacts were limited to travel disruptions, power outages, and tree damage in the northern mountains and Laurel Highlands. On Monday (4/23), numerous schools and local community services in affected counties had to cancel or modify operations as snow continued to accumulate over the higher terrain during the day.

Early on April 23rd, the Governor issued a 'Proclamation of Disaster Emergency' for the state based on the projected impact the heavy, late season snow could bring forth. The PA National Guard mobilized 125 soldiers to assist in the state task force areas. At the height of the storm, there was a peak of 51,000 customers without power state-wide. The PennDOT districts in targeted areas activated Incident Command Centers and the Area Command. The PA Turnpike imposed speed restrictions Monday morning over the western higher terrain.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 367468. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.