Heavy Snow, Fayette
- When
- December 20, 3:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Fayette forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 20, 2003
Snow began in the afternoon of the 19th. ) reached 6 inches of snow by 3 AM on 20th.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 5
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 PBZ wrote it up.
Snow began in the afternoon of the 19th. Farmington (Fayette Co.) reached 6 inches of snow by 3 AM on 20th. By noon on 20th, total snow ranged from 6 to 8 inches in Forest, Indiana, Venango, and Westmoreland counties to 11 inches in Fayette.
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 Pittsburgh, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 20, 2:44 AM EST, 16 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 20, 2:44 AM EST, 16 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 244 AM EST SAT DEC 20 2003 LAKE EFFECT SNOW MACHINE HAS SET UP WITH GOOD BANDS OF SNOW OFF OF LAKES HURON AND ERIE. GOOD UPSLOPE INTO THE MOUNTAINS SHOULD BEING SIGNFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS THROUGH NOON. RIDGE BUILDING INTO THE DISTRICT THIS AFTERNOON WILL DIMINISH CYCLONIC CIRCULATION AND PRODUCE SUBSIDENCE INVERSION BY LATE AFTERNOON. EXPECT THESE FACTORS TO LIMIT SNOW ACCUMULATION THIS AFTERNOON. SNOW SHOWERS SHOULD END AS THE RIDGE BUILDS IN TONIGHT WITH DRY WEATHER THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. PITTSBURGH, PA 28 19 37 28 / 60 20 10 10 WHEELING, WV 28 19 38 28 / 60 20 10 10 MORGANTOWN, WV 28 18 38 28 / 60 20 10 10 ZANESVILLE, OH 30 21 39 30 / 40 20 10 10 NEW PHILADELPHIA, OH 27 19 36 28 / 50 20 10 10 FRANKLIN 26 18 35 26 / 90 20 10 10 DUBOIS 25 16 37 25 / 80 20 10 10 LATROBE 27 17 38 27 / 70 20 10 10 BUTLER 28 19 36 27 / 70 20 10 10 INDIANA 26 16 38 26 / 60 20 10 10 OAKLAND, MD 25 13 38 27 / 90 20 10 10 && .PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MD...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH NOON EST FOR MDZ001. OH...NONE. PA...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING UNTIL NOON EST SATURDAY FOR ZONES PAZ007>009. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL NOON EST FOR PAZ023-030-032. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THIS MORNING FOR ZONES PAZ013>016... PAZ022. WV...WINTER WEATHER WARNING THROUGH NOON EST FOR WVZ023-041. && RSD
Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 19, 5:02 AM EST, 21 hours 58 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 502 AM EST FRI DEC 19 2003 MDZ001-OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023- 029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-191001- ALLEGHENY PA-ARMSTRONG PA-BEAVER PA-BELMONT OH-BROOKE WV-BUTLER PA- CARROLL OH-CLARION PA-COLUMBIANA OH-COSHOCTON OH-FAYETTE PA- FOREST PA-GARRETT MD-GREENE PA-GUERNSEY OH-HANCOCK WV-HARRISON OH- INDIANA PA-JEFFERSON PA-JEFFERSON OH-LAWRENCE PA-MARION WV- MARSHALL WV-MERCER PA-MONONGALIA WV-MONROE OH-MUSKINGUM OH-NOBLE OH- OHIO WV-PRESTON WV-TUCKER WV-TUSCARAWAS OH-VENANGO PA-WASHINGTON PA- WESTMORELAND PA-WETZEL WV- 502 AM EST FRI DEC 19 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA EAST CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND GARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND. .DAY ONE...TODAY A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA AND MOUNTAINS SOUTH AND EAST OF PITTSBURGH WHERE 2 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED BY SATURDAY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Westmoreland
- When
- December 20, 11:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Westmoreland forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Heavy Snow, Indiana
- When
- December 20, 11:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Indiana forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Heavy Snow, Venango
- When
- December 20, 11:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Venango forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 41.401, -79.758 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Forest
- When
- December 20, 11:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Forest forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 41.513, -79.236 (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 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, December 2003
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: 5329335, 5329336, 5329337, 5329338, 5329339.