Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 25 to 26, 2000

The most intense and widespread winter storm since the Blizzard of 1996 buried Eastern Pennsylvania on the 25th with around 12 inches of snow. Sleet and freezing rain mixed in with the snow across Southeast Pennsylvania. Schools and government offices were closed on the 25th. So were many businesses. Pop music acts cancelled their perfomances at Philadelphia's First Union Center. Many malls never opened or closed early. Many schools and government offices around the Philadelphia area were still closed on the 26th. Most municipalities declared snow emergencies. Numerous accidents occurred and traffic on several major roadways were at a standstill for several hours. There were at least three confirmed deaths from heart attacks shoveling snow. Philadelphia International Airport was closed from 730 a.m. EST until 515 p.m. EST (about 1200 cancellations). One runway was reopened that evening. The Lehigh Valley International Airport was also closed. Amtrak cut its service in half and trains ran late. About 2,000 homes and businesses lost power, mainly in the Philadelphia area.The snow began with a vengeance between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. EST across Eastern Pennsylvania.Snowfall rates of around 2 inches per hour were common during the first couple hours of this storm. By the morning rush hour, several inches had already accumulated around the Philadelphia area. After sunrise, as warmer air came in above the ground and the precipitation intensity slackened, the snow began mixing with and changing over to sleet and freezing rain across Southeast Pennsylvania. It was still snowing across the rest of Eastern Pennsylvania, but at a lighter rate. Nevertheless by mid morning there was already 5 inches of snow on the ground in Berks County and by noon, there was already 6 inches of new snow in Stroudsburg (Monroe County). Southeast Pennsylvania spent most of the daylight hours in the storm's "dry slot" - an area of lighter precipitation. As colder air became more deeply entrenched, after 2 p.m. EST, the wintry mix started to change to sleet and then snow. Precipitation was mainly snow with a little sleet mixed in around Philadelphia during the evening. The change to mainly snow coincided with another heavier band of precipitation that affected Eastern Pennsylvania during the evening of the 25th. The snow ended by Midnight EST. The heavy snow led to hundreds of accidents. It also caused three men (83 and two 64-year-olds) in Monroe County to die from heart attacks after shoveling snow. In Easton (Northampton County), the U.S. Route 22 bridge was closed for 90 minutes after a tractor trailer struck a guardrail. An overturned sports utility vehicle forced the closure of Lehigh Drive in Easton. In Berks County, at about 230 p.m. EST, two people were seriously injured in a 4 vehicle accident near Exit 8 of Intersate 78 in Upper Bern Township. The westbound lanes were closed until 830 p.m. EST. An emergency shelter was opened for stranded motorists in Hamburg. Four foot drifts formed on the interstate. Elsewhere in Berks County, several vehicles drove off the road of U.S. Route 222 in Maxatawny Township. Old U.S. Route 22 in the northern part of the county was closed because of snow drifts. In Delaware County, as many as 20 drivers were stranded along U.S. Route 1, Interstate 95 and the Blue Route (Interstate 476). In the Philadelphia area, the Schuykill Expressway (Interstate 76) between Gulph Mills and U.S. Route 202 was described as a nightmare during the day as 15 tractor trailers became stuck halting traffic for five hours. Total Accumulations (going from northwest to southeast across the region) included: in Monroe County 13 inches in Saylorsburg, 11 inches in Long Pond, 10 inches in Bossardsville and East Stroudsburg, 7 inches in Scotia and 6.5 inches in Pocono Summit; in Northampton County, 14 inches in Williams Township and 7 inches in Bath; in Lehigh County 10 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 7 inches in Allentown; in Berks County 11 inches at the Blue Marsh Lake, 10 inches in Morgantown and Vinemont, 8 inches in Kutztown and Lincoln Park; in Chester County 12 inches in Kennett Square and West Barlborough Township, 11 inches in Downingtown and West Chester, 9 inches in Coatesville and 8 inches in Honey Brook and Glenmoore; in Montgomery County 14 inches at the Willow Grove NAS, 12 inches in Wynnewood, 11.5 inches in Norristown, 11 inches in King of Prussia and 7 inches in Pottstown; in Bucks County 13.6 inches in Chalfont, 12.5 inches in Furlong, 12 inches in Doylestown and 9 inches in Springtown and Langhorne; in Delaware County 11 inches in Springfield and 9 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport. The low pressure system responsible for the winter storm began as a weak low pressure system on a stationary front in southern Texas on the 23rd. By the morning of the 24th, it was located in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico near Apalachicola, Florida. Initial projections were for this storm system to stay far enough offshore for the heaviest precipitation to fall over the ocean and a more significant storm was expected on Wednesday the 26th. But, by Monday evening the 24th, it became apparent that the storm would not safely go out to sea. In fact, it was intensifying and hugging the South Atlantic Coast. By 7 a.m. EST on the 25th, it was about a 980 millibar low just northeast of Cape Hatteras. The storm's greatest intensification was over, but it moved northeast near the Atlantic Seaboard, instead of eastnortheast as was originally expected. At 7 p.m. EST, the storm was about a 975 millibar low located about 80 miles east of Long Beach Island, New Jersey. It proceeded to move northeast and weaken and at 7 a.m. EST on the 26th, it was a 988 millibar low just east of Portland Maine. This storm system pushed the cold front well offshore. The third low that did develop on Wednesday the 26th was too far offshore to affect the region other than reinforcing the preexisting cold northwest flow.