Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, March 9, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, March 9, 2001
Start: 2001-03-09T01:00
End: 2001-03-09T09:00
Location: Pennsylvania

March 9, 2001 · NWS PHI · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A vigorous occluded front produced several hours of accumulating snow across the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos during the morning of the 9th. m.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: 4

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 vigorous occluded front produced several hours of accumulating snow across the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos during the morning of the 9th. The snow began after midnight EST and ended between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. EST. The morning commute was more treacherous and longer than usual. Accumulations averaged between 2 and 4 inches. No serious accidents were reported. Specific accumulations included 4 inches in Pocono Summit and Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 3 inches in Williams Township (Northampton County) and 2 inches in Bath (Northampton 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 Mar 8, 9:10 PM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 8, 9:10 PM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
910 PM EST THU MAR 8 2001

A FEW SCATTERED FLURRIES SWEPT ACROSS OUR NORTHERN ZONES THIS
EVENING.  MEANWHILE...SPOTTY PRECIP HAS DRIFTED AS FAR EAST AS
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA AND VIRGINIA/S SHENANDOAH VALLEY.

A BAND OF CIRRUS EXTENDING FROM KENTUCKY INTO SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA
HIGHLIGHTS THE UPPER JET THAT IS PUSHING TO THE EAST AROUND THE BASE
OF THE TROUGH.  THE PRECIP THAT IS FORECAST FOR OUR SOUTHERN ZONES
IS TIED TO THE UPPER JET.  AS THAT FEATURE MOVES OVER THE SOUTHERN
PART OF OUR FORECAST AREA DURING THE LATE PART OF THE TONIGHT INTO
FRIDAY MORNING...THE SOUTHERN HALF OF OUR FORECAST AREA SHOULD
RECEIVE IT/S PRECIP.

IN THE SOUTH...PRECIP TYPE IS GOING TO DEPEND ON PRECIP RATE.  WITH
THE WARM LAYER NEAR THE SURFACE...ANY LIGHT PRECIP SHOULD FALL AS
LIQUID.  NEVERTHELESS...IF THE PRECIP RATE PICKS UP BRIEFLY AROUND
DAYBREAK...THERE COULD BE A MIX WITH SNOW.

IN THE NORTH...THERE WILL NOT ONLY BE AN INITIAL SHOT OF SNOW
OVERNIGHT...BUT ALSO WE SHOULD SEE SNOW ACCOMPANYING THE UPPER LOW
ON FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY NIGHT.  WE/LL MAINTAIN THE IDEA OF UP TO 4
INCHES IN OUR THREE NORTHERN COUNTIES...WITH AN INCH OR TWO DOWN TO
JUST NORTH OF PHL.

WE/LL DROP ANY HEADLINES DEALING WITH TIDAL FLOODING.  WITH THE FULL
MOON...WATER LEVELS WOULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE HIGH AT THIS POINT
ANYWAY.  NOTHING UNEXPECTED OR UNUSUAL AT THE COAST.

THE UPDATED ZONE FORECASTS WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 1000.

.PHI...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY LATE TONIGHT AND FRIDAY FOR CARBON
        AND MONROE COUNTIES IN PA (ZONES 54 AND 55) AND FOR SUSSEX
        COUNTY IN NJ (ZONE 1).

IOVINO

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Carbon

When: March 9, 1:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Carbon forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Monroe

When: March 9, 1:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Monroe forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.058, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northampton

When: March 9, 1:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Northampton forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lehigh

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 7:00 AM EST
Where: Lehigh forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.613, -75.592 (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: 5235159, 5235161, 5235162, 5235160.