Winter Weather, Bucks
- When
- March 3, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Bucks forecast zone
Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, March 3, 1997
The run of unseasonably warm weather came to an abrupt end during the day on the 3rd as heavy snow fell over parts of the Poconos and lighter snow fell elsewhere. A strong cold front on the 2nd brought in a colder air mass into the Northeast the night of the 2nd and the morning of the 3rd.
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
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 run of unseasonably warm weather came to an abrupt end during the day on the 3rd as heavy snow fell over parts of the Poconos and lighter snow fell elsewhere. A strong cold front on the 2nd brought in a colder air mass into the Northeast the night of the 2nd and the morning of the 3rd. Meanwhile a low pressure system developed in Eastern Texas the morning of the 2nd. It moved into the Tennessee Valley the morning of the 3rd before it jumped and redeveloped along the Middle Atlantic Coast near Norfolk the evening of the 3rd. It quickly moved out to sea overnight. Snow began falling around noon on the 3rd and was over by midnight. In the southeast part of the state, precipitation type was partially intensity driven. When it became lighter, it mixed with or changed to sleet and rain. During heavier bursts precipitation went back to all snow. The recent warm weather caused considerably less snow to accumulate on roadways. The heaviest snow fell during the afternoon hours. Accumulations across much of the area averaged between 2.5 and 5 inches, with some higher amounts in Monroe County. The lightest accumulations, an inch or less, fell across extreme Lower Bucks, Delaware and Philadelphia Counties. The afternoon heavy snow burst did contribute to numerous accidents in the Northwest Philadelphia Suburbs. The most serious accident occurred in Middletown Township (Bucks County) when a minivan rammed into a utility pole and critically injured its driver.Snowfall accumulations included 6 inches in Saylorsburg (Monroe County), 5 inches in Green Lane (Montgomery County), Long Pond (Monroe County) and Perkasie (Bucks County), 4 inches in Reading (Berks County), the Lehigh Valley International Airport, Glenmoore (Chester County) and Lehighton (Carbon County), 3 inches in Doylestown (Bucks County) and Coatesville (Chester County) and 2 inches in Valley Forge (Montgomery County) and Hamburg (Berks County). Only 0.5 inches of snow accumulated at the Philadelphia International Airport.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
7 winter weather, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Winter Weather, Chester
- When
- March 3, 9:00 AM EST to 9:00 PM EST
- Where
- Chester forecast zone
Winter Weather, Montgomery
- When
- March 3, 9:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Montgomery forecast zone
Winter Weather, Berks
- When
- March 3, 10:00 AM EST to 9:00 PM EST
- Where
- Berks forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Weather, Lehigh
- When
- March 3, 11:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- Lehigh forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Weather, Northampton
- When
- March 3, 11:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- Northampton forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Monroe
- When
- March 3, 12:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- Monroe forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.058, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Weather, Carbon
- When
- March 3, 12:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- Carbon forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Winter Weather
- Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
- 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
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 3 to 4, 1997
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 3 to 5, 1997
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, March 3 to 4, 1997
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 3 to 4, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, March 3 to 4, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, March 3, 1997
- Winter Storm in Colorado, March 3 to 4, 1997
- Winter Weather in New Jersey, March 3, 1997
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in West Virginia, March 3 to 4, 1997
- Heavy Snow in North Dakota, March 3 to 4, 1997
- Winter Storm in Colorado, March 3, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, March 3 to 4, 1997
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, March 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: 5599620, 5599622, 5599624, 5599619, 5599623, 5599625, 5599618, 5599621.