Ice Storm, Pike
- When
- March 12, 9:00 PM EST to March 13, 9:00 AM EST
- Where
- Pike forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 41.332, -75.034 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Ice Storm in Pennsylvania, March 12 to 13, 2001
Low pressure moved across the western Great Lakes late on the 12th into eastern Canada on the 13th. Warm moist air moved over colder air at the surface.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
- 3
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.
Low pressure moved across the western Great Lakes late on the 12th into eastern Canada on the 13th. Warm moist air moved over colder air at the surface. Precipitation started as rain which cooled the air below freezing. Freezing rain fell most of the overnight before ending the morning of the 13th. Freezing rain amounts were between a quarter and a half of an inch.
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 Mar 12, 2:10 PM EST, 6 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 2:10 PM EST, 6 hours 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY 210 PM EST MON MAR 12 2001 BRIGHT MARCH SUN IS WARMING THINGS NICE THIS AFTN...ESP IN AREAS W/O SNOW CVR...AND AREAS WEST OF THE MTS ENJOYING DOWNSLOPING IN THE SELY FLOW. RDGS RCHG WELL INTO THE 60S OVER WV AND OH. HWVR...OF MORE IMPORTANCE LOCALLY IS THE STEADY OR EVEN FALLING DEW PTS. MANY RDGS IN THE LWR TEENS AND EVEN SINGLE NUMBERS. INTRSTG AND TRICKY EVENT TNGT. PRIMARY SFC LOW MVES OVER LAKE SUPERIOR AND DEEPENS...WHILE A MUCH WEAKER LOW MVES UP THE CST. SFC BNDRY HANGS UP OVER SRN PA...AND WILL NEVER MAKE IT CLOSE TO THE FCST AREA. ALSO...CHUNKS OF ENERGY ROTATE AROUND IN THE BROAD UPPER TROF. BEST FRCG FOR PCPN IS A 50 TO 60 KT LOW LVL JET THAT DVLPS AHD OF A VORT MAX SLIDING UP THE CST. CNTR OF THE JET MOVES OVER THE FCST AREA AROUND 06Z AND IS CPLD WITH A NICE DIVERGENT SIGNATURE ALOFT. THIS WILL LIKELY RESULT IN A PD OF HEAVIER PCPN AROUND MIDN. MODEL QPF IN THE AVN/NGM/ETA IS ALL IN DECENT AGREEMENT...AND ALL GIVE THE FCST AREA A UNIFORM HALF TO SIX TENTHS OF AN INCH OVRNGT. WITH THE MODELS IN SUCH GOOD AGREEMENT...AND THE JET STRUCTURE...IT/S HARD TO ARGUE WITH THE MODEL QPF...EVEN THOUGH THE FCST SEEMS TO BE BETWEEN THE FAVORED AREAS FOR PCPN. WILL KEEP AREAS WEST OF I81 IN THE ADVISORY...DESPITE THE INCRSD QPF. WRN AREAS ARE WEST OF THE CNTR OF THE LOW LVL JET...AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO SEE TEMPS CREEP ABOVE FRZG. TO THE NORTH...AM MORE NERVOUS ABT THE ADVISORY...BUT WILL LEAVE AS IS FIGURING MORE SLEET WILL FALL LWRG THE PTNL FOR SERIOUS ICING FROM FRZG RAIN. VERY LTL WARMUP TMRW...WAA IS CUT OFF BEFORE 18Z. STILL...LGT FRZG PCPN SHD SWITCH OVER TO RAIN AS THE INTENSE SUN HEATS THRU THE CLDS. BY MIDDAY...THE COLD FNT SWEEPS INTO CNTRL NY AND CAA BEGINS AGAIN. PCPN WILL CHG BACK TO SNOW SHWRS FROM WEST TO EAST BY 00Z WED MOST AREAS. UPPER LOW SITS OVER ONTARIO AND KEEPS A MOIST...COLD...NWLY FLOW THRU WED. NOT NICE. WORK ZONES SOON...FINALS AROUND 3PM. .BGM... WINTER STORM WRNG TONIGHT NYZ044>046-056-057-062-PAZ039-040-043-044-047-048 WINTER WX ADVSY MONDAY NIGHT NYZ009-015>018-022>025-037-037-055-PAZ038 MORFORD
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Ice Storm, Susquehanna
- When
- March 12, 9:00 PM EST to March 13, 9:00 AM EST
- Where
- Susquehanna forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 41.821, -75.801 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Ice Storm, Wayne
- When
- March 12, 9:00 PM EST to March 13, 9:00 AM EST
- Where
- Wayne forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 41.649, -75.303 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- 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
- Tornado in Alabama, March 12, 2001
- Tornadoes in Mississippi, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, March 12, 2001
- High Wind in Alabama, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Mississippi, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 12, 2001
- Tornado and Hail in Mississippi, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, March 12, 2001
- Tornado in Georgia, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Texas, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 12, 2001
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, March 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: 5237773, 5237774, 5237775.