Pennsylvania, 1996

Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, February 2 to 3, 1996

February 2 to 3, 1996 · NWS PHI · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

The second in a series of low pressure systems over the western Atlantic brought heavy snow to Southeast Pennsylvania during the nighttime and early morning hours on the 2nd and 3rd. The fortuitous timing of the heavy snow falling after the end of the Friday evening commute held the number of traffic accidents down.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
8

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.

The second in a series of low pressure systems over the western Atlantic brought heavy snow to Southeast Pennsylvania during the nighttime and early morning hours on the 2nd and 3rd. The fortuitous timing of the heavy snow falling after the end of the Friday evening commute held the number of traffic accidents down. In spite of this, there were about 200 snow related accidents in the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. One of the worst occurred in Upper Pottsgrove Township (Montgomery County) involving two cars. Three people were seriously injured. Accumulations averaged six inches across Southeast Pennsylvania and four to five inches in the Southern Poconos. A few representative accumulations included 8.5 inches in Southampton, 8 inches in Perkasie, 7 inches in Downingtown and Williams Township, 6 inches in Pottstown and Doylestown, 5.1 inches at Philadelphia International Airport, 5 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and 4 inches in Jim Thorpe and Palm.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Chester

When
February 2, 7:00 PM EST to February 3, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Chester forecast zone

Heavy Snow, Montgomery

When
February 2, 7:00 PM EST to February 3, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Montgomery forecast zone

Heavy Snow, Bucks

When
February 2, 7:00 PM EST to February 3, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Bucks forecast zone

Heavy Snow, Delaware

When
February 2, 7:00 PM EST to February 3, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Delaware forecast zone
Coordinates
39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Philadelphia

When
February 2, 7:00 PM EST to February 3, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Philadelphia forecast zone
Coordinates
40.008, -75.134 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Berks

When
February 2, 9:00 PM EST to February 3, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Berks forecast zone
Coordinates
40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lehigh

When
February 2, 9:00 PM EST to February 3, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Lehigh forecast zone
Coordinates
40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northampton

When
February 2, 9:00 PM EST to February 3, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Northampton forecast zone
Coordinates
40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, February 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5551393, 5551394, 5551395, 5551396, 5551397, 5551398, 5551399, 5551400.