Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, January 9, 1997

A double barrel low pressure system brought a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain across the region. This caused numerous accidents and helped contribute to at least one fatality in Berks County. Snow overspread the region during the late morning on the 9th and started mixing with and changing over to sleet and freezing rain during the early evening commute home. Snowfall accumulations averaged between 1.5 and 3 inches. This was topped by a layer of sleet and freezing rain which made travel extremely hazardous on untreated roadways.In Berks County, a bus driver and two school children were injured the morning of the 9th when the bus they were on skidded into a ditch in Douglass Township. That same afternoon in Douglass Township, a Good Samaritan was critically injured by a car after he left his own car to help a stranded motorist. Around noon, a 34-year-old woman was critically hurt after she drove into a house in Longswamp Township. A 21-year-old male was killed later that day in Longswamp Township after his vehicle spun out of control and was struck by a pickup truck. Numerous accidents were reported around Hamburg and in Cumru, Exeter and Ontelaunee Townships. Many accidents were also reported in the Lehigh Valley as roadways became skating rinks. In Bethlehem alone there were two dozen minor accidents. The two low pressure systems responsible for the wintry mix moved from the Ohio Valley and Georgia the morning of the 9th to Lake Huron (the former) and Boston (the latter) the morning of the 10th. The lows kept their separate identities and did not merge into one. This kept precipitation from becoming heavier. All of the significant precipitation was over by the late evening of the 9th.