Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, March 20 to 22, 1998

A low pressure system slowly intensified over the Carolinas from the evening of the 20th through much of the day on the 21st. A notable spoke of upper level energy rotated around this storm and affected parts of northeastern Pennsylvania from late in the evening on the 20th into the early morning hours on the 21st. A burst of heavy snow resulted, which was mixed with sleet and freezing rain. This round of mixed precipitation brought an ice coating up to a quarter of an inch thick on exposed surfaces across the higher elevations just outside of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton metropolitan area. Also, 2 to 5 inches of snow fell within roughly a 6 hour period in areas north of Scranton. From the evening of the 21st through the 22nd, the storm center began to move northeastward off the Mid-Altantic coast while strengthening further. As this occurred, narrow bands of very heavy snowfall developed overnight into the early morning of the 22nd across the northern tier and Pocono regions. Snowfall totals for this entire event were heaviest to the north and east of Scranton. Accumulations of 6 to 10 inches were common. Equinunk and Dyberry township in Wayne county picked up 8 to 10 inches of snow while Bushkill in Pike county and Great Bend in Susquehanna county received 6 to 7 inches of fresh powder.