Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, February 24 to 25, 2005

Name: Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, February 24 to 25, 2005
Start: 2005-02-24T11:00
End: 2005-02-25T05:00
Location: Pennsylvania

February 24 to 25, 2005 · NWS PHI · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

Heavy snow fell across southeastern Pennsylvania on the 24th into the 25th. Lighter accumulating snow fell elsewhere across eastern Pennsylvania.

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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 10

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.

Heavy snow fell across southeastern Pennsylvania on the 24th into the 25th. Lighter accumulating snow fell elsewhere across eastern Pennsylvania. The snow spread from south to north and began during the morning in the greater Philadelphia Metropolitan area and around Noon EST in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos. The snow fell at a fairly steady clip until it ended during the early morning on the 25th. Accumulations averaged between 3 and 7 inches in most areas. The lightest accumulations were in the Poconos. While there have been heavier snows, the timing could not have been worse. The snow arrived too late for most schools to be cancelled and accumulated enough by the evening rush hour to cause traveling headaches. Some schools in Chester County never opened on the 24th, but most others dismissed early on the 24th. Even some businesses sent their employees home early. After school activities and evening classes were cancelled. On the morning of the 25th many schools had delayed openings and snowy roads caused traffic delays through the morning commute. There were hundreds of weather related accidents, with a few fatalities involved. About 100 weather related accidents (with 37 injuries) occurred in Berks County alone. In Berks County, a 57-year-old woman was killed on the Oley Turnpike in Oley Township when her vehicle skidded sideways and was struck by a van. In Monroe County, in Tobyhanna Township, a fatal accident occurred on Pennsylvania State Route 940 when a vehicle collided with a pickup truck. In Montgomery County, in Lower Pottsgrove Township, a road was closed after a woman was seriously injured after her vehicle struck a pole. In Philadelphia, a multi-vehicle accident on the Platt Street Bridge seriously injured a 25-year-old woman. In Lehigh County, a jackknifed tractor-trailer shut down westbound Interstate 78 in Upper Macungie Township for an hour during the heart of the rush hour. Dozens of accidents also occurred in Northampton, Bucks and Carbon Counties. Specific accumulations included 7.5 inches in Bernville (Berks County), 7.0 inches in Boothwyn (Delaware County) and Gouglersville (Berks County), 6.8 inches in Bensalem (Bucks County) and Havertown (Delaware County), 6.5 inches in Elkins Park (Montgomery County), 6.3 inches in Valley Forge (Chester County), 6.2 inches in Morrisville (Bucks County), 6.0 inches in Vinemont (Berks County), Wynnewood (Montgomery County) and East Nantmeal Township (Chester County), 5.5 inches in Blue Bell (Montgomery County), 5.2 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 5.1 inches in Downingtown (Chester County), 5.0 inches in Reading (Berks County), 4.8 inches in Birdsboro (Berks County), 4.5 inches in Perkasie (Bucks County), Germansville (Lehigh County), Glendon (Northampton County), Northeast Philadelphia (Philadelphia County) and Lehighton (Carbon County), 4.3 inches in Palm (Montgomery County), 4.2 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport, 4.0 inches in Palmerton (Carbon County), 3.5 inches in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 3.1 inches in Easton (Northampton County) and 3.0 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County).A southern stream low pressure system formed along the Gulf Coast States on the 23rd and moved northeast. It reached the Alabama/Georgia border shortly after Midnight EST on the 24th, eastern Georgia at 7 am EST on the 24th, just east of Morehead City, North Carolina at 1 p.m. EST on the 24th, about 100 miles east of Elizabeth City, North Carolina at 7 p.m. EST on the 24th and well east of the Delmarva Peninsula by the morning of the 25th. The upper air system that supported the surface low passed across the Middle Atlantic States overnight on the 24th and prolonged the snow slightly longer than would be the case given the storm track. The storm track was too far to the southeast to bring heavy snow into the Lehigh Valley and Poconos.

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 Feb 24, 3:30 AM EST, 7 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 24, 3:30 AM EST, 7 hours 30 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 24, 5:23 AM EST, 5 hours 37 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

6 heavy snow, 4 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Berks

When: February 24, 11:00 AM EST to February 25, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Berks forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Bucks

When: February 24, 11:00 AM EST to February 25, 4:30 AM EST
Where: Bucks forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Chester

When: February 24, 11:00 AM EST to February 25, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Chester forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Delaware

When: February 24, 11:00 AM EST to February 25, 5:00 AM EST
Where: Delaware forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Montgomery

When: February 24, 11:00 AM EST to February 25, 4:30 AM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Philadelphia

When: February 24, 11:00 AM EST to February 25, 5:00 AM 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, Carbon

When: February 24, 12:00 PM EST to February 25, 5:00 AM EST
Where: Carbon forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Lehigh

When: February 24, 12:00 PM EST to February 25, 4:30 AM EST
Where: Lehigh forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Monroe

When: February 24, 12:00 PM EST to February 25, 5:00 AM EST
Where: Monroe forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.058, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Northampton

When: February 24, 12:00 PM EST to February 25, 4:30 AM EST
Where: Northampton forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.754, -75.307 (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.
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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, February 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5436985, 5436986, 5436987, 5436988, 5436989, 5436990, 5436991, 5436992, 5436993, 5436994.