Pennsylvania, 2001

Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 5, 2001

January 5, 2001 · NWS PHI · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

Light snow, associated with a low pressure system's warm and cold front moved through Eastern Pennsylvania from the second half of the morning into the early evening of the 5th. Accumulations were mainly between two and three inches.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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
10

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.

Light snow, associated with a low pressure system's warm and cold front moved through Eastern Pennsylvania from the second half of the morning into the early evening of the 5th. Accumulations were mainly between two and three inches. High temperatures were below freezing and the light snow did cause slippery travel conditions on untreated roadways. In Delaware County, a 17-year-old teenager was killed when the pick-up truck he was a passenger in skidded off a road into a guardrail in Thornbury Township. He was killed when the guardrail penetrated the passenger side of the vehicle. Numerous accidents were reported in Upper Chichester Township. Accumulations included 3.5 inches in Valley Forge (Chester County), 3 inches in Chadds Ford (Delaware County) and Bechtelsville (Berks County), 2.5 inches in Morgantown (Berks County), 2.4 inches in Williams Township (Northampton County), 2.3 inches in Palm (Montgomery County), 2.1 inches in Buckingham Township (Bucks County), 2 inches in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), West Chester (Chester County) and the Franklin Institute within Philadelphia and 1.8 inches in Exton (Chester County).

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 Jan 5, 2:30 AM EST, 6 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 2:30 AM EST, 6 hours 30 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 5, 3:30 AM EST, 5 hours 30 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Carbon

When
January 5, 9:00 AM EST to 5:00 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)

Heavy Snow, Monroe

When
January 5, 9:30 AM EST to 6:00 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)

Heavy Snow, Berks

When
January 5, 10:00 AM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Berks forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Bucks

When
January 5, 11:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Bucks forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heavy Snow, Chester

When
January 5, 11:00 AM EST to 5:30 PM EST
Where
Chester forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heavy Snow, Montgomery

When
January 5, 11:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heavy Snow, Delaware

When
January 5, 11:30 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Delaware forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lehigh

When
January 5, 11:30 AM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Lehigh forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northampton

When
January 5, 11:30 AM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Northampton forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Philadelphia

When
January 5, 11:30 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Philadelphia forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
40.008, -75.134 (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

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5227722, 5228678, 5227720, 5227721, 5227723, 5228679, 5228676, 5228677, 5228680, 5228681.