Cold/Wind Chill — Eastern Montgomery, Pennsylvania
2015-02-15 to 2015-02-16 · Eastern Montgomery, Pennsylvania
Wider weather episode
The near arrival of the center of the arctic air mass brought some of the lowest wind chills and temperatures of the winter season to Eastern Pennsylvania. While winds by the morning of the 16th were not as strong as they were on the morning of the 15th, air temperatures were lower. This produced wind chill factors as cold as around 35 degrees below zero in the Poconos and around 20 degrees below zero elsewhere. Advisory level wind chills persisted in the Poconos through the morning of the 16th. Actual low temperatures were around zero, except neared 10 degrees below zero in parts of the Poconos. The continued cold weather led to the death of a Montgomery County man.
Outreach teams were dispatched to get homeless people to shelters. Code Blues remained in effect. The extreme cold weather continued to cause pipes to freeze and many dead batteries. AAA Mid-Atlantic responded to more than 1,600 jump start calls. Philadelphia Catholic schools were closed on the 16th. A 73-year-old man from Whitpain Township (Montgomery County) was found dead from hypothermia in his unheated home on the 17th.
Lowest hourly wind chill factors included 36 degrees below zero in Mount Pocono (Monroe County), 23 degrees below zero in Coatesville (Chester County), 21 degrees below zero in Reading (Berks County), 20 degrees below zero in Pottstown (Montgomery County) and Doylestown (Bucks County), 19 degrees below zero at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and 16 degrees below zero at the Philadelphia International Airport.
Actual morning low temperatures included 8 degree below zero in Mount Pocono (Monroe County), 5 degrees below zero in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 2 degrees below zero in Doylestown (Bucks County), 1 degree below zero in Reading (Berks County), Kennett Square (Chester County), Martins Creek (Northampton County), Pottstown (Montgomery County) and the Lehigh Valley International Airport, zero in Coatesville (Chester County), Perkasie (Bucks County) and East Norriton (Montgomery County), 1 degree above zero in New Hope (Bucks County), 2 degrees above zero in Aston (Delaware County) and 3 degrees above zero at the Philadelphia International Airport.
The low temperature of 3 degrees in Philadelphia was the coldest low since January 1994 and the coldest February low since 1979. This tied February 20th for the coldest low temperature of the winter season. The low temperature of 1 degree below zero in Reading established a new daily record for the day.
The extremely unseasonably cold arctic air mass and low wind chill factors were caused by the arrival of an arctic high pressure system to Eastern Pennsylvania on the afternoon of the 16th. Prior to its arrival the pressure gradient between it and a departing intense low pressure system in the Canadian Maritimes kept northwest winds persisting through the night of the 15th and made it feel even colder.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 558488. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.