Heavy Snow, Northern Erie
- When
- January 2, 11:00 AM EST to January 3, 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Northern Erie forecast zone
- Property damage
- $20,000
- Coordinates
- 42.118, -80.098 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 2 to 3, 1996
Snow fell, with the heaviest snow occurring overnight and the morning of the 3rd. Accumulations averaged as little as 4 to 6 inches along the Lake Erie shore to 14 inches inland.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $210,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
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 CLE wrote it up.
Snow fell, with the heaviest snow occurring overnight and the morning of the 3rd. Accumulations averaged as little as 4 to 6 inches along the Lake Erie shore to 14 inches inland. Northeast winds of 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph produced significant blowing and drifting snow and localized blizzard conditions and drifts up to 6 feet. Roof collapses began as the snow piled up and continued for days after the storm. A barn collapse in western Crawford County killed 9 dairy cows and injured a number of others. A 54 year old Cambridge Springs man (Crawford County) was killed after a large chunk of ice fell from a roof and hit him in the head. It took two men to lift the ice chunk off the body.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Southern Erie
- When
- January 2, 11:00 AM EST to January 3, 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Southern Erie forecast zone
- Property damage
- $90,000
- Coordinates
- 42.118, -80.098 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Crawford
- When
- January 2, 11:00 AM EST to January 3, 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Crawford forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Coordinates
- 41.685, -80.106 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Snow, Crawford | 1996-01-03 | 54 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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
- Winter Storm in Kansas, January 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Ohio, January 2 to 3, 1996
- Winter Storm in Ohio, January 2 to 3, 1996
- Winter Storm in Indiana, January 2 to 3, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New York, January 2 to 3, 1996
- Winter Storm in Illinois, January 2 to 3, 1996
- Winter Storm in Indiana, January 2 to 3, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, January 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Florida, January 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New York, January 2 to 3, 1996
- Tornado in South Carolina, January 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 2 to 3, 1996
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5537432, 5537433, 5537434.