Name: Ice Storm and Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, February 16, 2001
Start: 2001-02-16T09:00
End: 2001-02-16T23:00
Location: Pennsylvania

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

A cold front moved through the Poconos on the 15th and stalled over the southern Middle Atlantic States. High pressure brought in some colder and drier air near the surface the night of the 15th and the morning of the 16th. A weak low pressure system developed on the front during the morning of the 16th over the Tennessee Valley. While it was warm enough aloft for precipitation to fall as rain, air temperatures remained below freezing over some of the higher terrain locations in the Poconos, particularly in Monroe County. The low pressure system was too weak to bring in warmer air from the nearby Atlantic. Freezing rain and rain fell across the Poconos during the day and evening of the 16th. Ice accretions reached around one-quarter of an inch in some of the higher terrain locations in Monroe County. Untreated roadways were treacherous.

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 Feb 16, 3:35 AM EST, 5 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 16, 3:35 AM EST, 5 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
335 AM EST FRI FEB 16 2001

DISC: MODELS SHOW PCPN SPREADING N SLIGHTLY SLOWER THAN EARLIER
RUNS. NEW FCST PKG WILL REFLECT THIS. TEMPS WILL BE VRY SLOW TO
RISE TODAY. CURRENT READINGS BLO FREEZING MUCH OF CARBON...
MONROE...AND SUSSEX COUNTIES...ALSO NRN PTNS OF LEHIGH...
NORTHAMPTON...WARREN...AND MORRIS COUNTIES. SINCE PCPN NOT
EXPECTED TO ARRIVE THESE AREAS UNTIL LATE THIS MORNING...TEMPS
FOR THE MOST PART WILL RISE ABOVE FREEZING BEFORE THE ONSET.
THE PROBLEM AREAS...AS ALWAYS...WILL BE THE COLDEST MOUNTAIN
VALLEYS IN OUR NORTHERN 3 ZONES. ADVISORIES MAY WELL BE NEEDED
IF THE PCPN SPREADS INTO THESE AREAS TOO QUICKLY. FOR NOW...
WILL HANDLE WITH A STATEMENT. NEW RUNS ALSO CUT DOWN ON PCPN
AMTS...SO WILL TAKE OUT MENTION OF HVY RN. COLD AIR COMES IN
TNGT AS SYSTEM PULL OFF THE COAST. MOST SECTIONS WILL CHANGE
TO SN BFR ENDING. WILL NOT MENTION SNOW ACfCUM ATTM BUT NOT
OUT OF THE QUESTION TO GET SMALL AMTS...ESP NRN SECTIONS.

MARINE: WILL CONT HEADLINE FOR PSBLTY OF SCA LATE TNGT AND SAT.

.PHI...NONE.

RPW

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 16, 4:15 AM EST, 4 hours 45 minutes before

NJZ001-007-008-PAZ054-055-061-062-161700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT --- WINTRY PRECIPITATION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
415 AM EST FRI FEB 16 2001

...WINTRY MIX POSSIBLE LATER TODAY...

PRECIPITATION WILL OVERSPREAD THE AREA FROM THE SOUTHWEST TODAY.
IT IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN BY MID OR LATE MORNING. TEMPERATURES
OVER MUCH OF THE AREA ARE CURRENTLY NEAR OR BELOW FREEZING...
BUT WILL RISE SLOWLY DURING THE MORNING HOURS. THEY ARE
EXPECTED TO BE ABOVE FREEZING MOST SECTIONS BEFORE THE
PRECIPITATION BEGINS. BUT...AS HAPPENS QUITE FREQUENTLY...
TEMPERATURES IN THE COLDEST MOUNTAIN VALLEYS MAY REMAIN AT OR
BELOW FREEZING FOR A FEW HOURS AFTER THE PRECIPITATION ONSET.

A MIXTURE OF SNOW...SLEET...AND FREEZING RAIN MAY OCCUR FOR A
WHILE LATER THIS MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON BEFORE CHANGING
OVER TO ALL RAIN AS TEMPERATURES RISE ABOVE THE FREEZING MARK.

MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR DETERIORATING WEATHER CONDITIONS
TODAY. BE AWARE OF FREEZING OR FROZEN PRECIPITATION AND SLOW
DOWN IF ICY CONDITIONS ARE ENCOUNTERED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV
STATION FOR THE LATEST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECASTS
AND UPDATES.

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...LOG ONTO OUR WEB SITE AT
    WEATHER.NOAA.GOV/PHI

RPW

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter weather, 1 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Carbon

When: February 16, 9:00 AM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where: Carbon forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Monroe

When: February 16, 9:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Monroe forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 41.058, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
Ice Storm: Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, February 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: 5232033, 5232034.