Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, March 5 to 6, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, March 5 to 6, 2001
Start: 2001-03-05T20:00
End: 2001-03-06T16:00
Location: Pennsylvania

March 5 to 6, 2001 · NWS CLE · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

North to northwest winds across Lake Erie caused lake effect snow showers to develop during the evening of the 5th. Most of the snow fell during the early morning hours of the 6th.

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: $125,000
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.

North to northwest winds across Lake Erie caused lake effect snow showers to develop during the evening of the 5th. Most of the snow fell during the early morning hours of the 6th. Accumulations of up to 13 inches were reported across inland sections of Erie County with 7 inches of snow in northern Crawford 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 Cleveland, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 5, 3:37 PM EST, 4 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 5, 3:37 PM EST, 4 hours 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
337 PM EST MON MAR 5 2001

WINTRY WX CONTS WI WIND, COLD & SNW. INSTBLTY SNW SHWRS SCT ARND THE
AREA. CD POOL ALF & A LTL SS HAS SET OFF THIS ACVTY. BUT THE MAIN WX
FEATURE IS THE DEEPENG LOW & STG VORT OVR LWR MICH THAT WL ROT DOWN
ACRS THE AREA TNGT THEN QUICKLY EXITS TO THE E ERY TUE. MSTR NOT ALL
THAT IMPRESV, BUT DO XPCT WRPARND FRM THE E CST STORM TO HELP FUEL
THIS SYS AS IT MAKES IT WAY OVR THE AREA TNGT. SOME LK ENHANCMNT WL
HELP DVLP SOME SNW PLUMNES INTO THE WRNG AREA TNGT & THRU TUE. THE
SNW AMTS MAY BE ON THE HI SIDE BUT THE STG UVV & SOME OPEN LERI
WATER MAY BE ENUF TO PROV A QUICK BURST OR TWO OF SNW, LOCAL AMTS OF
3-6 INCHES. WL CONT WI THE WRNG BUT ADD AN ADVSRY FOR THE FEW CNTYS
BWTN THE WRNG AREA & PIT'S ERN AREA. TEMPS WL HAV A DIFF TIME WRMG
SO MOS TEMPS LOOK OK. STG WNDS HAV ALREADY DVLPD & MST OF THE AREA
WL SEE WINDS IN THE 15-30 RANGE THRU TUE.
...MISCLE AVBL...

.CLE...GALE LERI
OH...WW WRNG TNGT THRU TUE MRNG MST OF NE OH FRM LOR-CLE TO THE PA
     STATE LINE
     WW ADVSRY TNGT THRU TUE MRNG OHZ031>033, 038
PA...WW WRNG TNGT THRU TUE MRNG PAZ001>003p

SEM

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Crawford

When: March 5, 8:00 PM EST to March 6, 4:00 PM EST
Where: Crawford forecast zone
Property damage: $75,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.685, -80.106 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Erie

When: March 5, 8:00 PM EST to March 6, 4:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Erie forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
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

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5235825, 5235826.