Winter Storm — Monroe, Pennsylvania

2007-12-02 to 2007-12-03 · Monroe, Pennsylvania

Wider weather episode

A wintry mix of precipitation fell across eastern Pennsylvania from the early morning of the 2nd through the early morning of the 3rd. Precipitation slowly changed to rain from Philadelphia northwest during the evening of the 2nd, but it never changed to plain rain in the Poconos. Snow and sleet accumulations reached up to four inches in the Poconos and ice accretions reached around one quarter of an inch. Many accidents were caused by the wintry mix of precipitation including a traffic related fatality in Monroe County.

Precipitation started as light snow from Philadelphia north during the early morning of the 2nd. The snow changed to sleet from around 8 a.m. EST in the local Philadelphia area to Noon EST in the Poconos. Snow and sleet accumulations averaged around an inch or less in the local Philadelphia area and two to four inches in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos. In the local Philadelphia area, precipitation was intermittent during the afternoon, but fell primarily as freezing rain. Because of the recent warm weather and indirect insolation from the sun, roads remained wet and the freezing rain was limited to exposed surfaces. Farther to the north precipitation mixed with and then changed to freezing rain from the late morning into the afternoon. As warmer air moved inland, the freezing rain changed to rain during the early evening around the local Philadelphia area and took to about Midnight EST on the 3rd for the change to plain rain to occur in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley. Precipitation remained freezing rain over the Poconos until the event ended around 3 a.m. EST on the 3rd. Ice accretions averaged around one-quarter of an inch with the highest amounts in the Poconos and Berks County.

In Monroe County, a 61-year-old man was killed on Pennsylvania State Route 447 after another vehicle crossed the center line and hit him head-on. His passenger, his 61-year old wife was injured. The other vehicle's driver and passenger were also hospitalized. Pennsylvania State Route 447 was closed for over an hour. Schools in the Poconos and the Lehigh Valley had two hour delayed openings the following morning (the 3rd). In the Lehigh Valley, an Allentown couple was uninjured in Wilson (Northampton County) after their vehicle skidded off the road and flipped into Springbrook Creek. Another vehicle skidded off the same road. In Lower Mount Bethel Township (Northampton County), a woman was injured after skidding into a pole. In Whitehall Township (Lehigh County), two separate vehicles failed to negotiate a curve on Fullerton Avenue. One skidded into a police vehicle. The worst reported accident in Philadelphia was a multi-vehicular one in Chestnut Hill.

Specific snow and sleet accumulations included 4.0 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County), 3.4 inches in Middle Smithfield Township (Monroe County), 2.0 inches in Tatamy (Northampton County), 1.8 inches in New Tripoli (Lehigh County) and Lehighton (Carbon County), 1.6 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 1.5 inches in Fredericksville (Berks County), 1.4 inches in Springtown (Bucks County) and 1.0 inch in Palm (Montgomery County).

The wintry mix of precipitation was caused by a low pressure system that moved from the Great Lakes on the morning of the 2nd into the Saint Lawrence Valley on the morning of the 3rd. Even though the low pressure system moved north of the region, the cold air near the ground was difficult to dislodge. While it became warm enough aloft for precipitation to fall as rain, it still froze on contact especially over the higher terrain.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 66638. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.