Ice Storm in Pennsylvania, January 1 to 2, 2003

A low pressure system in Mississippi, New Year's Eve, moved northeast to the Tennessee/North Carolina border the morning of the 1st. The storm then picked up speed to be in northeast Pennsylvania the evening of New Year's Day. The next morning it was off the coast of Maine. A cold front with rain passed southeast of the area New Year's Eve. This allowed a north to northeast surface wind to set up which brought in cold air during most of the 1st. Precipitation well ahead of the storm started around 10 AM on the 1st. Precipitation started as mostly rain but as colder air moved in the rain began to freeze. The freezing rain was heavy at times in the evening before ending in the early morning of the 2nd. Ice amounts were the thickest at the higher elevations with mostly a quarter to a half inch. Above 1500 feet elevation an inch or more of ice was coating surfaces in Bradford County. Melted precipitation amounts were an inch or more. The ice caused trees and wires to come down. Around 3,000 customers lost power in the area. The hardest hit area with 1000 customers without power was around Canton in Bradford County. The ice remained on the trees and wires through the January 3rd snowstorm causing more wires to come down.