Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 13 to 14, 2004

Name: Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 13 to 14, 2004
Start: 2004-12-13T01:00
End: 2004-12-14T06:00
Location: Pennsylvania

December 13 to 14, 2004 · NWS CLE · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

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: $550,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 CLE wrote it up.

A strong cold front moved east across northwestern Pennsylvania during the early morning hours of December 13th. Cold west winds blowing across Lake Erie behind the front caused lake effect snow bands to develop along the south shore of the lake during the predawn hours of the 13th. The snow intensified after daybreak with snowfall rates greater than an inch per hour through the early afternoon hours. Winds became more northwesterly during the afternoon and this shifted the heavier bands of snow inland across southern Erie County and northern Crawford County. This activity then persisted through the morning of the 14th with snowfall rates at times greater than an inch per hour. West to northwest winds gusting to as high 30 mph combined with the snow to create near zero visibilities at times. Snowfall totals for the event ranged from 12 to 15 inches along the lakeshore to more than two feet inland of the lake. Peak totals for the storm were; 27.4 inches at Franklin Center (Erie County) and 27 inches at Conneautville (Crawford County). Officially, 13.6 inches of snow fell at Erie International Airport. Drifts several feet deep were also reported. Travel during this event was severely hampered and hundreds of accidents occurred.

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 Cleveland, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 12, 11:25 PM EST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 12, 11:25 PM EST, 1 hour 35 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 12, 5:38 AM EST, 19 hours 22 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Crawford

When: December 13, 1:00 AM EST to December 14, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Crawford forecast zone
Property damage: $250,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.685, -80.106 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Erie

When: December 13, 1:00 AM EST to December 14, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Erie forecast zone
Property damage: $150,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.118, -80.098 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Erie

When: December 13, 1:00 AM EST to December 14, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Erie forecast zone
Property damage: $150,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.118, -80.098 (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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, December 2004

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5429327, 5429328, 5429329.