Blizzard — Southern Wayne, Pennsylvania

2017-03-14 · Southern Wayne, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

Blizzard conditions struck Wayne County mainly during the afternoon and evening of the 14th with snowfall of 2 to 3 feet and frequent wind gusts to 50 mph. This caused considerable blowing and drifting snow and prolonged periods of white-out conditions.

Wider weather episode

A major winter storm developed over eastern North Carolina during the early morning hours of March 14th. The winter storm tracked northeast during the day on the 14th reaching the Gulf of Maine by the late evening of the 14th. This storm spread a heavy record breaking snowstorm to a large part of central New York and northeast Pennsylvania with blizzard conditions from the Catskills in New York to the Poconos of northeast Pennsylvania and in the greater Scranton Wilkes-Barre area. The snow spread from south to north across northeast Pennsylvania and central New York between midnight and 6 am on the 14th. The snow quickly became very heavy especially east of a Rome, New York to Towanda, Pennsylvania Line. Snowfall rates reached up to 5 inches per hour. The heavy snow continued through the day on the 14th and tapered off by late evening in most of northeast Pennsylvania but continued through the 15th as moisture from Lake Ontario combined with northwest winds behind the storm to prolong snowfall for central New York and the far northern tier of eastern Pennsylvania.

Between 30 and 48 inches of snow fell from Bradford, Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties in northeast Pennsylvania through the Greater Binghamton area to Utica and Cooperstown NY, with 1 and 2 day snowfall records broken at many locations. Binghamton and Scranton set their 1 day snowfall records with 32.4 inches and 22.1 inches respectively. There were blizzard conditions from Scranton and Wilkes-Barre areas through the Poconos and Catskills during the late morning and afternoon of the 14th with frequent wind gusts over 35 mph and a peak wind of 61 mph at Monticello. Many other parts of central New York and northeast Pennsylvania had between 1 and 2 feet of snow and all areas had gusty winds and considerable blowing and drifting snow. Many municipalities, and counties declared states of emergencies and/or travel bans. New York state also declared a state of emergency. Pennsylvania reduced speed limits on the interstates. The heavy snow collapsed two roofs and there were two small avalanches that closed roads. There were no storm-related injuries or deaths.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 690528. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.