Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, January 22 to 23, 2006

Name: Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, January 22 to 23, 2006
Start: 2006-01-22T23:00
End: 2006-01-23T10:00
Location: Pennsylvania

January 22 to 23, 2006 · NWS PHI · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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: 5

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.

A winter storm that produced a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain affected the Poconos and the higher terrain of the Lehigh Valley from the late evening on the 22nd into the morning of the 23rd. Accumulations averaged 1 to 3 inches and ice accretions averaged around one-quarter of an inch. A wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain also occurred in Berks County, but amounts were less and had less of an impact. Precipitation started as snow between 10 p.m. EST on the 22nd and Midnight EST on the 23rd. In the Lehigh Valley and Berks County precipitation changed to freezing rain around 1 a.m. EST on the 23rd and the change to freezing rain occurred as late as 5 a.m. EST on the Pocono Plateau. The change to plain rain occurred in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley by 7 a.m. EST, but took until the late morning to occur on the Pocono Plateau. The rain ended during the afternoon. Most schools in the Poconos were closed. Most schools in the Lehigh Valley had delayed openings. Untreated roads were slippery. Most of the reported weather related accidents occurred in the Poconos. The most serious was a vehicle that struck a tree in Towamensing Township (Carbon County) and entrapped the occupants. Specific accumulations included 3.0 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County), 2.4 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County), 1.6 inches in Tannersville (Monroe County), 1.4 inches in Williams Township (Northampton County), 0.8 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and 0.5 inches in Pricetown (Berks County). Ice accretions generally averaged around one-quarter of an inch in the higher terrain locations throughout the Poconos and Lehigh Valley.The winter storm was caused by a fast moving low pressure system that developed over the Gulf of Mexico. The high pressure system was over the region on the 22nd and moved east into the New England coastal waters by the morning of the 23rd. This is normally not a favorable position for freezing rain. In this instance precipitation moved into the region so quickly and overnight, that the cold air near the surface could not get scoured. The low pressure system itself moved from near Houston, Texas at 7 p.m. EST on the 22nd northeast to northern Alabama at 1 a.m. EST on the 23rd and then into eastern Kentucky at 7 a.m. EST on the 23rd. A secondary low pressure system formed on its warm front over Delaware and during the course of the morning became the main low pressure system. By 1 p.m. EST it was approaching Cape Cod, Massachusetts and was well east of the Cape by 7 p.m. EST that evening.

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 22, 3:30 PM EST, 7 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 22, 3:30 PM EST, 7 hours 30 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 22, 5:00 AM EST, 18 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
500 AM EST SUN JAN 22 2006

ANZ430-431-450>455-DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-
007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-060>062-067>071-231100-
DELAWARE BAY WATERS NORTH OF EAST POINT NJ TO SLAUGHTER BEACH DE-
DELAWARE BAY WATERS SOUTH OF EAST POINT NJ TO SLAUGHTER BEACH DE-
COASTAL WATERS FROM SANDY HOOK TO MANASQUAN INLET NJ OUT 20 NM-
COASTAL WATERS FROM MANASQUAN INLET TO LITTLE EGG INLET NJ OUT
20 NM-
COASTAL WATERS FROM LITTLE EGG INLET TO GREAT EGG INLET NJ OUT
20 NM-
COASTAL WATERS FROM GREAT EGG INLET TO CAPE MAY NJ OUT 20 NM-
COASTAL WATERS FROM CAPE MAY NJ TO CAPE HENLOPEN DE OUT 20 NM-
COASTAL WATERS FROM CAPE HENLOPEN TO FENWICK ISLAND DE OUT 20 NM-
NEW CASTLE-KENT DE-INLAND SUSSEX-DELAWARE BEACHES-CECIL-KENT MD-
QUEEN ANNES-TALBOT-CAROLINE-SUSSEX-WARREN-MORRIS-HUNTERDON-
SOMERSET-MIDDLESEX-WESTERN MONMOUTH-EASTERN MONMOUTH-MERCER-SALEM-
GLOUCESTER-CAMDEN-NORTHWESTERN BURLINGTON-OCEAN-CUMBERLAND-
ATLANTIC-CAPE MAY-ATLANTIC COASTAL CAPE MAY-COASTAL ATLANTIC-
COASTAL OCEAN-SOUTHEASTERN BURLINGTON-CARBON-MONROE-BERKS-LEHIGH-
NORTHAMPTON-CHESTER-MONTGOMERY-BUCKS-DELAWARE-PHILADELPHIA-
500 AM EST SUN JAN 22 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN
PENNSYLVANIA, DELAWARE, THE NORTHERN MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE AND
NEW JERSEY, EXCLUDING THE FIVE NORTHEAST COUNTIES.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN POCONOS AND FAR
NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY FOR LATE TONIGHT INTO MONDAY. SNOW, SLEET,
AND FREEZING RAIN ARE POSSIBLE.

A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE REMAINDER OF EASTERN
PENNSYLVANIA, FOR NORTH CENTRAL, CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST NEW JERSEY,
AND FOR NORTH DELAWARE AND NORTHEAST MARYLAND FOR MONDAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

MPD

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 winter storm, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Berks

When: January 22, 11:00 PM EST to January 23, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Berks forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Carbon

When: January 23, 5:00 AM EST to 10:00 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 Storm, Lehigh

When: January 23, 5:00 AM EST to 6:00 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 Storm, Monroe

When: January 23, 5:00 AM EST to 10:00 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 Storm, Northampton

When: January 23, 5:00 AM EST to 6:00 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

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, January 2006

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: 5486554, 5486550, 5486551, 5486552, 5486553.