Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 9, 2005

Name: Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 9, 2005
Start: 2005-12-09T03:00
End: 2005-12-09T09:00
Location: Pennsylvania

December 9, 2005 · NWS BGM · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

A surface low moved northeast out of the Ohio Valley on the 8th to eastern Canada late on the 9th. Cold air across the region ahead of the storm kept all of the precipitation as snow.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: $70,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 BGM wrote it up.

A surface low moved northeast out of the Ohio Valley on the 8th to eastern Canada late on the 9th. Cold air across the region ahead of the storm kept all of the precipitation as snow. The snow moved into the area the evening of the 8th. Snowfall amounts were mostly from 6 to 10 inches. In Pike County, amounts were higher, from 9 to 12 inches.

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 Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 9, 2:35 AM EST, 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 9, 2:35 AM EST, 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
235 AM EST FRI DEC 9 2005

.SHORT TERM (TODAY - SATURDAY)...
CYCLONE STRENGTHENING AS IT MOVES THROUGH NORTHEASTERN US, BEFORE
TRANSFERRING POWER TO COASTAL DEVELOPMENT TODAY. AS STORM
INTENSIFIES ALONG THE COAST EXPECT ANOTHER BOUT OF HEAVY SNOW WILL
OCCUR OVER FAR EASTERN FA.

SO FAR NO GROUND TRUTH FROM STORM EXCEPT AT KBGM. HOWEVER GIVEN
RADAR DEPICTION IT APPEARS FORECAST IS ON TRACK. NO CHANGES PLANNED
TO CURRENT ADVISORY/WARNING BREAKDOWN WITHOUT CONCRETE EVIDENCE TO
THE CONTRARY.

GUSTY WINDS AND DRIER AIR WILL WRAP AROUND BACKSIDE OF STORM. SNOW
WILL TAPER OFF OVER CENTRAL SO TIER AND BRADFORD COUNTY LATE
MORNING, THEN ACROSS CENTRAL FA AROUND NOON. SNOW WILL TAPER OFF
ACROSS EASTERN FA MID AFTERNOON. LAKE INSTABILITY IS MARGINAL
HOWEVER FAVORABLE SHEAR FLOW DEVELOPS BEHIND COLD FRONT. WE HAVE
BROUGHT HIGHER POPS INTO NORTHERN FINGER LAKES/SYR/WESTERN MOHAWK
VALLEY REGION, AND ADDED ANOTHER INCH OF SNOWFALL FOR LATE TODAY.

THERE IS A BRIEF BREAK IN THE POSITIVE PNA INDUCED STORMINESS ON
SATURDAY. WEAK RIDGING OCCURS UPSTREAM OF DIGGING SHORTWAVE, WITH
-4C 850 MB TEMPS ADVECTED THROUGH NY. EXPECT PARTLY-MOSTLY SUNNY
SKIES, SO TEMPS WILL RETURN TO MORE SEASONABLE NORMS. DJP

&&

.AVIATION (09/06Z - 10/06Z)...
DEVELOPING WINTER STORM WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE SNOW THRU THIS
MORNING...WITH MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS AT ALL TERMINALS...WITH OCCNLY
LIFR CIGS AT ALL BUT KYSR/KUCA.  WORST CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR BEFORE
12-13Z...WHEN VIS/CIGS SHOULD IMPROVE TO MVFR.  VIS WILL
CONTINUE TO IMPROVE TO VFR BY MIDDAY.  MVFR CIGS TO CONTINUE THRU
THIS EVENING.  WEST WINDS WILL ALSO INCREASE TO 15G25KT BY EARLY
AFTERNOON...OUT OF THE WEST...AS LOW PRESSURE INTENSIFIES OFF THE
NEW ENGLAND COAST.  - CEMPA

&&

.LONG TERM (SAT NGT - THU)...

NOTHING REAL EXCITING IN THE MEDIUM RNG, BUT WE DID MAKE SOME SIG
CHGS TO HPC GUIDANCE FOR NXT WEEK. ERN U.S. TROF WILL HOLD TUFF,
WITH A COLD WEEK ON TAP AFTER XPCTD ARCTIC FROPA SUN NGT/MON. WE
LOWERED TEMPS A GOOD 5 DEG FROM HPC GUIDANCE FOR MON-THU, AS VERY
COLD AIRMASS IS XPCTED TO DROP INTO THE RGN WITH 510-516 THICKNESS.
THIS ALSO REFLECTED IN THE LATEST 12Z MEX TEMP DATA. ATTM WE ARE
FCSTNG MAXES GNRLY IN THE M20S WITH LOWS 10-15 FOR NXT WEEK, BUT IN
THIS PTRN WOULD NOT BE SUPRISED TO SEE MAXES STRUGGLE TO HIT 20 NXT
TUE/WED, WITH MINS 5 BLO TO 5 ABV. HOPEFULLY WE HAVE TRENDED THE
FCST IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. SW WINDS AHEAD OF THE FNT ON SUNDAY,
WITH NW FLOW MON-WED, WHICH MEANS POTNL FOR SOME MULTIBAND LES
ACTIVITY THRU MID WEEK ACRS UPSTATE NY.

&&

.BGM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.NY...HEAVY SNOW WARNING THU NGT INTO FRIDAY SULLIVAN-DELAWARE NY.
      SNOW ADVISORY THU NGT INTO FRIDAY REMAINDER NY.
.PA...HEAVY SNOW WARNING NE PA THU NGT INTO FRIDAY.

&&

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Lackawanna

When: December 9, 3:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Lackawanna forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.437, -75.609 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Luzerne

When: December 9, 3:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Luzerne forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.177, -75.989 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Wayne

When: December 9, 3:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Wayne forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.649, -75.303 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Pike

When: December 9, 3:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Pike forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.332, -75.034 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Wayne

When: December 9, 3:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Wayne forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.649, -75.303 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Wyoming

When: December 9, 5:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Wyoming forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.518, -76.016 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Susquehanna

When: December 9, 6:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Susquehanna forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.821, -75.801 (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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, December 2005

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: 5488462, 5488463, 5488464, 5488465, 5488466, 5488468, 5488467.