Winter Storm — Northern Erie, Pennsylvania

2008-03-07 to 2008-03-09 · Northern Erie, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

Snow began during the morning hours of the 7th, and continued for the next day and a half. During the afternoon of the 7th, snow was light to moderate with some occasional periods of heavy snow. By evening between 3.0 and 6.0 inches already fell across the area. The snow lightened up during the evening hours, but then intensified again during the overnight hours. During the day on the 8th, snow was moderate to heavy with visibilities frequently around a quarter mile. Gusty winds around 30 mph caused considerable blowing and drifting of snow. The snow finally tapered to flurries and ended during the overnight hours into the 9th. Snowfall totals for this event from trained spotters include 23.4 inches officially at the Erie Airport, 24.8 inches in Franklin Center, 23.0 inches in Northeast, and 18.3 inches in Lake City. Numerous accidents were reported during this event.

Wider weather episode

On the morning of March 7th, low pressure was located along the Gulf Coast States. Snow spread into the region during the morning and afternoon hours, then tapered off a bit during the evening and overnight into the 8th. Snow intensified across the area as low pressure moved north into the Carolinas by the morning of the 8th. Snow persisted across much of the area, but did mix with sleet and freezing rain at times across portions of northwest Pennsylvania. By the evening hours of the 8th, snow began tapering off across the area. The low pressure continued intensifying as it moved into New England by the morning hours of the 9th. Some light snow and flurries persisted overnight into the early morning hours of the 9th. Throughout this event, locations across northwest Pennsylvania picked up between 8.0 and 25.0 inches. The least amounts were across Crawford County where the mixed precipitation of snow, sleet and freezing rain persisted the longest.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 89607. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.