Pennsylvania, 1997

Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 29 to 30, 1997

December 29 to 30, 1997 · NWS CTP · 23 events in 23 counties and zones

23 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 23 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
23

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.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

23 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Potter

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Potter forecast zone
Coordinates
41.745, -77.896 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Low pressure moved northeast from the Carolinas across New York City and brought heavy snow to a broad area of central Pennsylvania from late on the 29th through the 30th. Snow fell heavily from Franklin County northward into New York State. Snowfall amounts ranged from 8 to 14 inches across most of the region. Amounts were much lighter over the northwest where only an inch or two fell. An oddity with this particular storm was the way the heavy snow skipped over the Bedford to Port Matilda valley. Only two to four inches fell in this region with heavier snow to the west and to the east.

Heavy Snow, Cambria

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Cambria forecast zone
Coordinates
40.495, -78.714 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Cameron

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Cameron forecast zone
Coordinates
41.437, -78.204 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Columbia

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Columbia forecast zone
Coordinates
41.049, -76.405 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Franklin

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Franklin forecast zone
Coordinates
39.927, -77.721 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Fulton

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Fulton forecast zone
Coordinates
39.925, -78.113 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Huntingdon

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Huntingdon forecast zone
Coordinates
40.417, -77.981 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Juniata

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Juniata forecast zone
Coordinates
40.531, -77.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Mifflin

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Mifflin forecast zone
Coordinates
40.610, -77.617 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Montour

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Montour forecast zone
Coordinates
41.028, -76.659 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Centre

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Northern Centre forecast zone
Coordinates
40.919, -77.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Clinton

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Northern Clinton forecast zone
Coordinates
41.234, -77.638 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Lycoming

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Northern Lycoming forecast zone
Coordinates
41.343, -77.064 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northumberland

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Northumberland forecast zone
Coordinates
40.852, -76.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Schuylkill

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Schuylkill forecast zone
Coordinates
40.706, -76.216 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Snyder

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Snyder forecast zone
Coordinates
40.770, -77.070 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Somerset

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Somerset forecast zone
Coordinates
39.972, -79.028 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Centre

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Southern Centre forecast zone
Coordinates
40.919, -77.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Clinton

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Southern Clinton forecast zone
Coordinates
41.234, -77.638 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Lycoming

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Southern Lycoming forecast zone
Coordinates
41.343, -77.064 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Sullivan

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Sullivan forecast zone
Coordinates
41.446, -76.512 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Tioga

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Tioga forecast zone
Coordinates
41.772, -77.254 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Union

When
December 29, 10:00 PM EST to December 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Union forecast zone
Coordinates
40.963, -77.062 (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 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, December 1997

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: 5619862, 5619863, 5619864, 5619865, 5619866, 5619867, 5619868, 5619869, 5619870, 5619871, 5619872, 5619873, 5619874, 5619875, 5619876, 5619877, 5619878, 5619879, 5619880, 5619881, 5619882, 5619883, 5619884.