Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, January 29, 2003

Name: Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, January 29, 2003
Start: 2003-01-29T04:00
End: 2003-01-29T18:00
Location: Pennsylvania

January 29, 2003 · NWS PHI · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

Light snow fell across southeastern Pennsylvania from the pre dawn through the day on the 29th. Accumulations averaged between 1 and 3 inches.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: 6

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.

Light snow fell across southeastern Pennsylvania from the pre dawn through the day on the 29th. Accumulations averaged between 1 and 3 inches. Untreated roads were slippery, especially during the morning commute and again toward evening as temperatures fell well below freezing. Specific accumulations included 3 inches in Thorndale (Chester County), 2.8 inches in Ambler (Montgomery County), 2.7 inches in West Chester (Chester County), 2.6 inches in Green Lane (Montgomery County), 2.5 inches in Reading (Berks County), Newtown Square (Delaware County), Exton (Chester County) and Southampton (Bucks County), 2.2 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport, 2.1 inches at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and 2.0 inches in Perkasie (Bucks County).The snow moved into the region ahead of a low pressure system's warm front. The low itself went northeast from the Ohio Valley into the Saint Lawrence Valley. Its cold front moved through the region during the early evening and ended the precipitation.

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 29, 4:00 AM EST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 4:00 AM EST, 0 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 28, 4:44 AM EST, 23 hours 16 minutes before

DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-
060>062-067>071-281145-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
444 AM EST TUE JAN 28 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST
PENNSYLVANIA...DELAWARE...THE NORTHERN MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE...AND
NEW JERSEY EXCLUDING THE FIVE NORTHEAST COUNTIES.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME...THOUGH LIGHT SNOW
WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL SECTIONS TONIGHT.
ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD NOT EXCEED TWO INCHES IN THE LEHIGH VALLEY AND
SOUTHERN POCONOS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME...THOUGH A RAIN SNOW
MIX IS EXPECTED ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN DELAWARE AND MARYLAND
AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST NEW JERSEY FOR MUCH OF WEDNESDAY.  ANOTHER
STORM SYSTEM MAY BRING A WINTRY MIX TO THE SOUTHERN POCONOS AND
LEHIGH VALLEY OF PENNSYLVANIA AND PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY
FRIDAY OR SATURDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

JWH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 28, 11:00 PM EST, 5 hours before

DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-
060>062-067>071-291000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
1100 PM EST TUE JAN 28 2003

...LIGHT SNOW POSSIBLE TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY...
...THEN MILDER WEATHER BY THE UPCOMING WEEKEND...

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING FROM THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES EAST
THROUGH SOUTHERN ONTARIO AND QUEBEC TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY WILL DRAG
A WEAK FRONT THROUGH THE MID-ATLANTIC STATES. LIGHT SNOW IS POSSIBLE
TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY WITH THE FRONT...THE BEST CHANCES BEING TO
THE NORTH AND WEST OF PHILADELPHIA.  AN INCH OR TWO OF SNOW COULD
FALL BY MORNING ACROSS EAST CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...INCLUDING THE
SOUTHERN POCONOS...AS WELL AS NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY...WITH AN INCH
POSSIBLE OVER THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN SUBURBS OF PHILADELPHIA.

FROM PHILADELPHIA SOUTH...THERE IS ONLY A CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW
TONIGHT...WITH LITTLE IF ANY ACCUMULATION. AREAS CLOSER TO THE COAST
AND OVER THE DELMARVA COULD SEE SOME LIGHT RAIN MIX IN BEFORE
MORNING AS TEMPERATURES THERE RISE ABOVE FREEZING.

THE CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WITH
A BETTER CHANCE...OF RAIN OR RAIN AND SNOW MIXED...FROM PHILADELPHIA
SOUTH AND EAST WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

ALTHOUGH TEMPERATURES OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS WILL BE MILDER THAN THE
PAST COUPLE OF DAYS...EVEN WARMER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED BY THE
UPCOMING WEEKEND. THE JET STREAM IS BECOMING MORE WESTERLY...AND NO
ADDITIONAL ARCTIC INTRUSIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH AT LEAST EARLY
NEXT WEEK.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Berks

When: January 29, 4:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where: Berks forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Philadelphia

When: January 29, 4:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Philadelphia forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.008, -75.134 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Chester

When: January 29, 4:30 AM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where: Chester forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather, Delaware

When: January 29, 4:30 AM EST to 5:30 PM EST
Where: Delaware forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Montgomery

When: January 29, 4:30 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather, Bucks

When: January 29, 5:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Bucks forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5343998, 5344003, 5344000, 5344001, 5344002, 5343999.