Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 8 to 9, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 8 to 9, 2001
Start: 2001-12-08T13:00
End: 2001-12-09T01:00
Location: Pennsylvania

December 8 to 9, 2001 · NWS BGM · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Heavy snow spread north ahead of a low pressure area. The storm moved from West Virginia the afternoon of the 8th to the New Jersey coast early on the 9th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 BGM wrote it up.

Heavy snow spread north ahead of a low pressure area. The storm moved from West Virginia the afternoon of the 8th to the New Jersey coast early on the 9th. This was the first significant event of the season. Snowfall amounts were in the 4 to 6 inch range across the higher elevations. Lower elevations and areas further south, such as southern Wayne and southern Lackawanna counties had less snow. In these areas the snow was wetter and at times mixed with sleet and rain.

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 Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 8, 10:15 AM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 8, 10:15 AM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
1015 AM EST SAT DEC 8 2001

SURFACE ANALYSIS THIS MORNING SHOWS A STRONGER HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM
OVER NEW ENGLAND THAN WAS FORECAST YESTERDAY AND THIS HAS RESULTED
IN A NICE COLD AIR DAMMING SIGNATURE SEEN IN SURFACE ISOBARS.  THERE
IS DRIER AIR TO THE NE OF OUR CWA BUT OVER OUR CWA DEWPOINTS CLOSE
TO CURRENT TEMPS...THEREFORE DO NOT EXPECT TO BE TOO MUCH DROP IN
TEMPERATURE DUE TO EVAPORATIONAL COOLING ONCE THE PRECIPITATION
BEGINS LATER THIS AFTERNOON.  TEMPERATURES WILL NEED ADJUSTING
SLIGHTLY DOWNWARD FOR THIS AFTERNOON AS A COLD NIGHT AND RAPIDLY
ADVANCING CLOUDS WILL HELP TO CUT DOWN ON HEATING.

LEADING EDGE OF PRECIPITATION NOW MAKING ITS WAY INTO CENTRAL PA AND
EXPECT PRECIPITATION ONSET ACROSS SOUTHERN ZONES IN LINE WITH
CURRENT FORECASTS.  CURRENT VISIBLE PICTURES SHOW CONVECTIVE
BUMPINESS ACROSS MID ATLANTIC REGION AND SURFACE PRESSURES FALLING
IN THIS AREA LEADING CREEDANCE TO DEVELOPING WAVE ALONG STRONG
BAROCLINIC ZONE.  THIS ALSO REGION WHERE INITIAL UPPER LEVEL
DIVERGENCE STARTS TO STRENGTHEN THIS AFTERNOON.  WITH EXPECTED
COLDER TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON SOUTHERN ZONES MAY SEE
PRECIPITATION START OUT AS LIGHT SNOW TOWARDS MID AFTERNOON BEFORE
MIXING WITH RAIN LATER.  HOWEVER NEW BUFKIT FORECAST SOUNDING JUST
IN SHOWS A NEARLY ISOTHERMAL LAYER AROUND OR SLIGHTLY BELOW 0C AT
AVP DURING THE EVENT.  THIS WOULD SUGGEST THE POSSIBILITY OF THE
RAIN/SNOW LINE SLIGHTLY FURTHER S.  WILL WAIT FOR NGM/AVN RUNS AND
SEE WHAT THAT SHOWS.

ALL OF LAST NIGHTS MDLS STILL CONTINUE TO SHOW VERY STRONG DYNAMICS
WITH THIS SYSTEM....AS WE SAW IN YESTERDAYS RUNS.  WILL ADDRESS ALL
OF THIS AND ANY CHANGES/MODIFICATIONS TO WARNINGS/ADVISORIES IN THE
AFTERNOON DISCUSSION.  FOR NOW WILL CONTINUE WITH CURRENT
HIGHLIGHTS.

.BGM...WINTER STORM WARNING LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT
         BRADFORD...SUSQUEHANNA...BROOME...DELAWARE...AND SULLIVAN
         COUNTIES.
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT SENECA...SRN CAYUGA...
         ONONDAGA...MADISON...AND ONEIDA COUNTIES.
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT
         FOR ALL OTHER ZONES.

HOLMES

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Bradford

When: December 8, 1:00 PM EST to December 9, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Bradford forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.789, -76.515 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lackawanna

When: December 8, 1:00 PM EST to December 9, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Lackawanna forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.437, -75.609 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Susquehanna

When: December 8, 1:00 PM EST to December 9, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Susquehanna forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.821, -75.801 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Wayne

When: December 8, 1:00 PM EST to December 9, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.649, -75.303 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Wyoming

When: December 8, 1:00 PM EST to December 9, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Wyoming forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.518, -76.016 (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

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5276022, 5276023, 5276024, 5276025, 5276026.