Cold/Wind Chill — Lehigh, Pennsylvania

2015-02-15 · Lehigh, Pennsylvania

Wider weather episode

The combination of strong to high winds and an approaching arctic air mass produced wind chill factors as low as around 25 degrees below zero in the Poconos and around 15 to 20 degrees below zero elsewhere in Eastern Pennsylvania during the morning of the 15th. Wind chill factors in the Poconos never rose above advisory levels during the afternoon of the 15th. Actual morning low temperatures were around zero in the Poconos and single numbers above zero elsewhere. A woman from Lehigh County died from hypothermia at the onset of the latest arctic blast.

In Allentown (Lehigh County), a 90-year-old woman died from hypothermia after falling on the snow and ice. Many municipalities declared Code Blues. Plumbers were swamped with frozen pipe calls. Some say it was the busiest they have been in over 20 years. Shelters were full. Even oil lines were freezing. Some homes ran out of heating oil.

Lowest hourly wind chill factors included 28 degrees below zero in Mount Pocono (Monroe County), 21 degrees below zero in Reading (Berks County), 20 degrees below zero in Coatesville (Chester County), 17 degrees below zero in Pottstown (Montgomery County) and Doylestown (Bucks County), 15 degrees below zero at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and 13 degrees below zero at the Philadelphia International Airport. Actual morning low temperatures included 1 degree below zero in Mount Pocono (Monroe County), 5 degrees above zero in Reading (Berks County), Pottstown (Montgomery County), Doylestown (Bucks County) and Coatesville (Chester County), 7 degrees above zero at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and 9 degrees above zero at the Philadelphia International Airport.

The unseasonably cold arctic air mass and low wind chill factors were caused by the strong to high northwest wind flow between an extremely intense low pressure system south of New England and an arctic high pressure system over the upper Great Lakes. This combination returned the night of the 15th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 558281. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.