Cold/Wind Chill — Montgomery, Pennsylvania

2003-01-14 to 2003-01-29 · Montgomery, Pennsylvania

Wider weather episode

A cold frontal passage on the 13th initiated about a two week run of unseasonably cold weather, even by January standards across Eastern Pennsylvania. There were four cold related deaths in Southeastern Pennsylvania. All were found in unheated homes. The coldest mornings were the mornings of the 18th and 28th as low temperatures dipped into the single numbers or below zero. For many places, these were the coldest days in three years. Minimum temperatures for most days were no higher than the teens. The extreme cold filled homeless shelters to capacity. In addition the number of vehicle batteries dying and parking brakes freezing increased. Calls to heating oil firms and utilities rose dramatically. Several water mains broke because of the extreme cold. In Philadelphia, the rate of water main breaks increased by 800 percent. Even gas companies were reporting two to three times the average rate of gas line breaks. The Coast Guard had to break the ice in the Delaware River to make heavy shipping possible. In Philadelphia, three persons died from hypothermia. A 77-year-old man, a 70 year-old woman and a 66-year-old woman were all found dead in their unheated homes. In Montgomery County, a 78-year-old man was found dead from hypothermia in the front hallway of his home. Counties and the city of Philadelphia enact code blues during unseasonably cold weather. This sets into motion care managers and other agencies to help place and provide space for homeless individuals and families. Montgomery County was under code blue from the 10th through the 29th. In Philadelphia, a 52-year-old man was killed by a fire started by a kerosene heater. One of the worst water main breaks occurred in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia. A water main break at the intersection of Levering and Silverwood Streets sent water cascading down one of the steepest hills in the city. Twelve homes suffered major damage; seven families were forced from their homes. The worst flood damage occurred on Grape Street as water reached to the top of basements. Lowest temperatures included 11 degrees below zero in Mount Pocono (Monroe County), 2 degrees below zero in Perkasie (Bucks County) and Valley Forge (Chester County), 1 degree below zero in Lehighton (Carbon County), zero in Morgantown (Berks County), 1 degree in Reading (Berks County), Bath (Northampton County) and the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 5 degrees in Green Lane (Montgomery County), 6 degrees in Neshaminy Falls (Bucks County) and 8 degrees at the Philadelphia International Airport. This cold snap cemented January as being unseasonably cold. The monthly mean temperature of 28.6 degrees at the Philadelphia International Airport was the coldest January and the coldest winter month since 1994 (27.4 degrees). The monthly mean temperature of 23.6 degrees at the Lehigh Valley International Airport was the coldest January and the coldest winter month since 1994 (20.7 degrees). In Mount Pocono, the monthly mean temperature of 16.4 degrees was 4.9 degrees colder than normal. In Reading, the monthly mean temperature of 25.0 degrees was 4.1 degrees colder than normal.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5342808. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.