Heavy Snow, Crawford
- When
- December 20, 3:00 PM EST to December 21, 9:00 AM EST
- Where
- Crawford forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.685, -80.106 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 20 to 21, 2001
Cold northwest flow across Lake Erie caused lake effect snow showers to intensify during the evening hours. Accumulations of six inches were reported in northern Crawford and southern Erie Counties by midnight.
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
- Other
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 CLE wrote it up.
Cold northwest flow across Lake Erie caused lake effect snow showers to intensify during the evening hours. Accumulations of six inches were reported in northern Crawford and southern Erie Counties by midnight. The snow showers gradually diminished during the morning hours on the 21st with little additional accumulation reported.
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 Cleveland, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 20, 2:55 PM EST, 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 20, 2:55 PM EST, 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 255 PM EST THU DEC 20 2001 SNW HAS ENDED FOR THE TIME BEING BUT SHD PICK UP IN THE NE LATER WHEN THE WND TURNS TO THE NW...THE COLD AIR COMES IN AND THE VORT MOVS THRU. THE REST OF THE AREA WL BE CLR-PTCLDY. WL KEEP A CHC SNW SHWRS FRI. THEN THE HI BLDS IN AND THE WNDS TURN TO THE SW WITH SNY SKIES SAT. TEMPS NR GUID. .CLE... OH...LAKE EFFECT SNOW ADVISORY TNGT EXTREME NE OH OHZ012>014. PA...LAKE EFFECT SNOW ADVISORY TNGT INLAND NW PA PAZ002>003.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Southern Erie
- When
- December 20, 3:00 PM EST to December 21, 9:00 AM EST
- Where
- Southern Erie forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.118, -80.098 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- 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
- Tornado and Hail in California, December 20, 2001
- Heavy Snow in California, December 20, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Maine, December 20 to 21, 2001
- Winter Weather in California, December 20 to 21, 2001
- Strong Wind in West Virginia, December 20, 2001
- Winter Storm and High Wind in Alaska, December 20 to 21, 2001
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in Alaska, December 20, 2001
- Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, December 20 to 21, 2001
- Winter Storm in Maine, December 20 to 21, 2001
- High Wind in Alaska, December 20, 2001
- High Wind in Virginia, December 20, 2001
- Strong Wind in Virginia, December 20, 2001
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, December 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: 5274418, 5274419.