Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, January 23, 1998

A low pressure system, that moved into the Ohio Valley the morning of the 23rd, brought a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain to Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and the northwestern Philadelphia Suburbs and a more substantial winter storm to the Poconos. Prior to precipitation starting, a high pressure system built into northern New England on the 22nd and 23rd. This brought enough cold air to the area for precipitation to start as snow. Due to the low's location, winds were from the east near the ground and this brought in warmer air from the Atlantic Ocean. In the Northwest Philadelphia suburbs, the Lehigh Valley and Berks County, precipitation changed over quickly to freezing rain and sleet as accumulations were 2 inches or less. The change to plain rain though took longer and not until around 8 a.m. EST in the upper parts of Bucks County and not until noon in the northern extremes of the Lehigh Valley. In the Poconos, precipitation stayed snow longer and the change to sleet did not start until around sunrise of the 23rd. A mixture of sleet, freezing rain and rain persisted in the Poconos through the mid-afternoon hours. Untreated roadways, especially in the Poconos were treacherous.Snowfall accumulations prior to the changeover included 5 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 4 inches in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 3 inches in Jim Thorpe (Carbon County), 1.8 inches in Springtown (Bucks County), 1.6 inches in Hamburg (Berks County), 1.5 inches in Palm (Montgomery County), 1.4 inches in Glenmoore (Chester County) and around an inch at the Lehigh Valley International Airport.A series of weak secondary low pressure systems developed along the primary low's cold front and this prolonged the precipitation as rain through the evening of the 23rd.