Pennsylvania, 2001

Wildfire in Pennsylvania, April 28, 2001

April 28, 2001 · NWS PHI · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Unseasonably dry weather, warm temperatures, windy conditions and low relative humidity levels all combined to produce ideal conditions for the spread of brush and wildfires across the Poconos. Two such wildfires occurred on the 28th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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.

Unseasonably dry weather, warm temperatures, windy conditions and low relative humidity levels all combined to produce ideal conditions for the spread of brush and wildfires across the Poconos. Two such wildfires occurred on the 28th. In Carbon County, a brush fire burned for several hours on Mount Pisgah just north of Jim Thorpe. In Monroe County, a forest fire burned for two hours near Blue Mountain and the Appalachian Trail in Saylorsburg. No property damage occurred.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 28, 2:25 AM EST, 8 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 28, 2:25 AM EST, 8 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
325 AM EDT SAT APR 28 2001

MID LVL TROF AXIS IS OVER FA AND WILL MOVE E SLOWLY THROUGH TODAY
AND TONIGHT...THEN RIDGE AXIS WILL BEGIN TO BUILD TOWARD US SUN AND
SUN NIGHT. RIPPLES FCST TO DROP THROUGH THE TROF TODAY...BUT
ATMOSPHERE LOOKS QUITE DRY. THE RIPPLES SHOULD KEEP US FROM CLEARING
OUT COMPLETELY...BUT DRYNESS SHOULD MAKE MSNY A DECENT FCST FOR
TODAY DESPITE AREAS OF CLDS OVER FA ATTIM. THEN WILL KEEP CLOUDS OUT
OF AREA THROUGH SUN NIGHT AS RIDGE BUILDS TOWARD US AND WE REMAIN
DRY. AT THE SFC...HIGH PRES WILL DROP OUT OF UPR GREAT LAKES REGION
AND TOWARD US THROUGH SUN NIGHT. CENTRAL SFC PRES NOT FCST TO DROP
MUCH AT ALL THROUGH SUN EVE...HINTING THAT AIR MASS MODIFICATION
WOULD BE WEAK IN THE SHORT TERM. ALTHO MILD WARMING AT H8 FOR SUN
VIS A VIS TODAY...THE LOW LEVEL THERMAL PARAMETERS LOOK SOMEWHAT
COOLER THAN TODAY. ON OTHER HAND...SUN ANGLE IS GETTING UP
THERE...SO WILL KEEP TEMPS FOR SUNDAY BASICALLY THE SAME AS TODAY.
PERHAPS A MODEST WARMUP FOR THE POCONOS AND FAR NWRN NJ. LOCAL
SCHEME SUPPORTS THIS...AND SUPPORTS STAT GUIDANCE MAXES TODAY.

LOOKS LIKE THE SFC HIGH WILL GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO FA TO ALLOW FOR
DECOUPLING TONIGHT AFTER A BREEZY DAY. THIS RAISES THE QUESTION OF
HOW MUCH WILL WE RADIATE...AS DWPTS LOOK TO BE WELL BELOW THE
FREEZING MARK. NIGHTTIME ONLY LASTS ABOUT TEN HOURS THESE DAYS...AND
THE FIRST SEVERAL HOURS LIKELY WILL SEE SOME MIXING. HAVE GONE LOWER
ON THE MINS THAN PREV FCST...BUT NOT QUITE DOWN TO THE COOLEST STAT
GUIDANCE. THE DAY SHIFT WILL REVISIT THIS...AND DECIDE IF AND WHERE
A FREEZE WARNING IS WARRANTED.
R
WE HAVE A SCA GOING...THO IT LOOKS MARGINAL.

.PHI...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM SANDY HOOK NJ TO FENWICK ISLAND DE
       AND FOR DELAWARE BAY.

MPD

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Carbon

When
April 28, 11:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where
Carbon County, 1 mi N of Jim Thorpe
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, Monroe

When
April 28, 5:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Monroe County, Saylorsburg
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
41.058, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Wildfire
A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, April 2001

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: 5240766, 5240767.