Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 6 to 7, 2002

Name: Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 6 to 7, 2002
Start: 2002-01-06T15:00
End: 2002-01-07T02:00
Location: Pennsylvania

January 6 to 7, 2002 · NWS PHI · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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: 8

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 quick hitting winter storm dropped heavy snow across the Poconos and parts of Northampton and Bucks Counties. It dropped a wintry mix across the rest of the Lehigh Valley and in Berks, Chester and Montgomery Counties. Little if any snow or sleet fell in Philadelphia and Delaware Counties. The event lasted only about six to eight hours, but up to 9 inches of snow accumulated in the Poconos. Snowfall rates of an inch per hour were common in the Poconos. In the Philadelphia area, precipitation began during the afternoon as rain and sleet. As the precipitation intensity increased, it changed over to snow around sunset in the upper parts of the suburbs. Eventually enough warm air moved in aloft to change precipitation back to rain with some pockets of freezing rain. The only exception was in upper Bucks County, where precipitation remained mostly snow. As the low accelerated offshore, precipitation changed back to snow before it ended by 11 p.m. EST. In Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos, precipitation started as snow around sunset. Warm air moving in aloft changed the precipitation to sleet and freezing rain in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley during the first half of the evening. The shortest duration changeover occurred in Northampton County. As the low pressure system pulled offshore, precipitation changed back to snow before ending by midnight EST. In the Poconos, precipitation fell mainly as snow. Untreated roads were treacherous and many accidents were reported. Vehicles slid into ditches, creeks and one another. The worst reported accidents occurred in Berks County. In Spring Township, a tanker truck carrying gasoline on the northbound lanes of U.S. Route 222 overturned at 430 pm. EST. About 1,000 gallons were spilled. Northbound U.S. Route 222, Pennsylvania State Route 183 and Broadcasting Road were closed until the next morning. The eastbound lanes of Interstate 78 from Hamburg to the Lehigh County line were closed from 945 p.m. EST through 4 a.m. EST because of a four tractor trailer accident. In Carbon County, U.S. Route 209 was closed because of stuck vehicles. Schools were closed the next day in Carbon and Monroe Counties and had delayed openings in Berks County. Specific accumulations included 9 inches in Lehighton and Nesquehoning (Carbon County), 8.0 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County), 6 inches in Williams Township (Northampton County), Springtown (Bucks County) and Mount Pocono (Monroe County), 4.8 inches in Bath (Northampton County), 4.5 inches in Coplay (Lehigh County), 4.0 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 3.0 inches in Blue Marsh (Berks County), 2.7 inches in Palm (Montgomery County), 2.5 inches in Perkasie (Bucks County), 2.0 inches in Honey Brook (Chester County) and Pottstown (Montgomery County), 1.5 inches in West Chester (Chester County) and 1.0 inch in New Hope (Bucks County). The low pressure system responsible for the first winter storm of the season developed near Houston, Texas the morning of the 5th. It moved rapidly northeast and reached the Alabama/Georgia border at 7 a.m. EST on the 6th, was just east of Atlantic City at 7 p.m. EST on the 6th and reached Nova Scotia by the morning of the 7th.

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 6, 2:05 PM EST, 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 2:05 PM EST, 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...DELAYED UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
205 PM EST SUN JAN 6 2002

THIS DISCUSSION PERTAINS TO THE UPDATE ISSUED AROUND NOON. BOTH THE
ETA AND AVN MODEL SOUNDINGS DID NOT SUPPORT AN ADVISORY FOR EXTREME
SOUTHEAST PA...ECENTRAL AND SW NJ...NRN DE AND NERN MD...SO TONED
DOWN THE ACCUMULATIONS AND ACCENTED RAIN A BIT MORE. WE DID PUT
BERKS AND CARBON INTO THE WARNING BASED ON THE NEW QPF VALUES FROM
BOTH MODELS.

DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...WINTER STORM WARNING THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TNGT FOR
     NJ1/7/8/9.
     WINTER WX ADVISORY NJ10
PA...WINTER STORM WARNING PA54/55/60/61/62/69.
     WINTER WX ADVISORY THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TNGT 67/68.
MARINE...SCA COAST AND DE BAY.

MPD

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 sleet, 2 winter storm, 2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Sleet, Berks

When: January 6, 3:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Berks forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Chester

When: January 6, 3:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Chester forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Sleet, Montgomery

When: January 6, 3:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, Bucks

When: January 6, 5:00 PM EST to January 7, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Bucks forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, Northampton

When: January 6, 5:00 PM EST to January 7, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Northampton forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Lehigh

When: January 6, 5:00 PM EST to January 7, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Lehigh forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Carbon

When: January 6, 5:30 PM EST to January 7, 2:00 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: January 6, 5:30 PM EST to January 7, 2:00 AM EST
Where: Monroe forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.058, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Sleet: Sleet accumulating half an inch or more.
Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, January 2002

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: 5277501, 5277502, 5277503, 5277499, 5277500, 5277504, 5277497, 5277498.