Winter Storm — Westmoreland Ridges, Pennsylvania

2018-11-15 to 2018-11-16 · Westmoreland Ridges, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

Three to five inches of snow fell across the ridges in 24 hours. A quarter of an inch of ice also accumulated in regions the evening of November 15th.

Wider weather episode

Cold surface temperatures were already in place across the region at least 24 hours leading up to this event. Surface high pressure allowed high temperatures to only reach near freezing while low temperatures bottomed out in the mid-20s. A closed upper level low formed just north of Texas on November 14th and tracked northeast. An abundant amount of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico traveled with the system into the northeast United States. Freezing rain eventually transitioned to snow when northwest flow began on the backside of the surface low. Four to seven inches of snow was measured north of I-80 and in the higher elevations, meanwhile 1 to 3 inches of snow happened elsewhere.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 794419. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.