Arctic air crossing over the lower Great Lakes produced heavy lake effect snowfall across the snow belt region of northwest Warren County.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS CTP wrote it up.
Arctic air crossing over the lower Great Lakes produced heavy lake effect snowfall across the snow belt region of northwest Warren County.
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 State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 21, 10:52 PM EST, 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1052 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2008 .SYNOPSIS... WINDY AND MUCH COLDER AIR WILL PUSH INTO THE REGION BEHIND A DEVELOPING NOREASTER MOVING UP THE NEW ENGLAND COAST. HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE INTO THE COMMONWEALTH MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. ANOTHER FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL SPREAD SOME MIXED PRECIPITATION THEN RAIN OUR WAY FOR TUESDAY NIGHT INTO CHRISTMAS EVE. A SECOND STORM WILL BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF SIGNIFICANT RAIN...POSSIBLY STARTING AS MIXED PRECIPITATION NEXT WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM MONDAY MORNING/... TEMPS ALREADY NEAR ZERO OVER THE FAR NORTH WITH WINDS GUSTING 20-35 KT ON AVERAGE. WIND GUSTS IN A FEW PLACES MAY NUDGE ADVISORY VALUES AT TIMES OVERNIGHT...SO WE WILL ISSUE AN ADVISORY FOR MUCH OF THE REGION THROUGH MORNING. WIND CHILL ADV NUMBERS ALREADY BEING HIT OVER THE FAR NW SO WILL LEAVE THAT IN PLACE...AS WELL AS THE LAKE EFFECT WARNING FOR WARREN CTY. THE LAKE EFFECT MACHINE IS ALREADY CRANKING AWAY WITH S+ FROM ERI UP THRU BUF. GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THE LOW LEVEL FLOW COMES AROUND LATER TONIGHT AND EARLY MONDAY TO SWING THE LAKE EFFECT BANDS MORE INTO NWRN WARREN COUNTY. ELSEWHERE SKIES WILL BE PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS AND FLURRIES MAINLY IN THE WEST. AIRMASS IS EXTREMELY DRY SO I SEE LITTLE CHANCE OF MUCH MORE THAN A DUSTING AWAY FROM THE MAIN LAKE EFFECT AREAS. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... STG COLD ADVECTION IN THE WAKE OF THE DEEPENING NEW ENGLAND LOW COMBINED WILL RESULT IN BITTERLY COLD WIND CHILLS THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. IN ADDITION...SNOW SHOWERS AND LOCALIZED HEAVIER LAKE EFFECT SQUALLS OVER WARREN WARREN COUNTY WILL CONTINUE FOR MUCH OF THE DAY WITH SUBSIDENCE INVERSION HEIGHTS AOA 7 KFT AGL AND A WELL ALIGNED WNW BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW. MAX TEMPS MONDAY IN THE MID TO UPPER TEENS NORTH AND WEST...TO THE MID 20S ACROSS THE SE WILL BE ABOUT 12F BELOW NORMAL...BUT THE TIGHT SFC PRESSURE GRADIENT AND WEST TO NW WIND OF 20 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 40 TO 45 MPH WILL MAKE IT FEEL 10 TO 15 DEGREES COLDER. SNOW SHOWERS WILL DIMINISH MONDAY NIGHT AS HIGH PRES BUILDS IN FROM THE OHIO VALLEY. LOWS MONDAY NIGHT WILL BE SIMILAR OR A FEW DEG HIGHER THAN EARLY MONDAY...BUT WITHOUT THE GUSTY WIND WILL FEEL NOTABLY MILDER. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... HIGH CONFIDENCE AMONGST ENSEMBLE MEMBERS PUSHING -2 TO -3 STD DEV 500MB TROUGH INTO WESTERN STATES MID-WEEK. OPERATIONAL GFS PAINTS A SFC RIDGE OVER MID-ATLANTIC STATES TUE...HOWEVER WITH PROGRESSIVE SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW EXPECT THIS SFC RIDGE TO QUICKLY DEPART THE EAST COAST. ON IT/S HEELS WILL BE A MOISTURE RICH AREA OF LOW PRESSURE. AT PRESENT THE TRACK IS CLASSIC FOR MOST OF PA TO SEE PRECIP IN THE LIQUID FORM...AS TEMPS SURGE WELL INTO THE 40S FOR WED. ONSET OF PRECIP COULD MIX WITH A FEW DENDRITES BEFORE TURNING TO ALL RAIN WED MORNING. A FEW LOCATIONS ALONG MASON-DIXON LINE COULD SEE TEMPS AROUND 50 WED AFTN. VORT MAX SLIDES NE ACROSS CENTRAL IND INTO SE ONTARIO WED EVE...PUSHING A FRONTAL BNDRY THRU MID-ATLANTIC LATE WED/EARLY THUR. ATTM TEMPS COOL SLIGHTLY...HOWEVER GIVEN TROUGHING PATTERN ACROSS WESTERN CONUS TEMPS WILL REMAIN MILD FOR THE MID-ATLANTIC REGION THRU FRI. SOME CONCERN DOES RESIDE ARND PLACEMENT OF A SFC RIDGE ON BACKSIDE OF MID-WEEK VORT. ENSEMBLES PROG AN ONTARIO/QUEBEC LOCATION...WHICH COULD FAVOR SOME COLD AIR DAM FOR OUR REGION AND NEW ENGLAND LATER IN THE WEEK. OPERATIONAL GFS STALLS MID-WEEK FRONTAL BNDRY ACROSS CAROLINAS/VA REGION...WHICH COUPLED WITH COLD AIR COULD INTRODUCE INCREASED CHC/S OF SN LATER IN THE WEEK. && .AVIATION /04Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH TUESDAY ACROSS MUCH OF THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN AIRFIELDS...WITH AREAS OF MVFR/IFR CIGS AND VSBYS IN SNOW SHOWERS FROM LATE TONIGHT INTO MONDAY EVENING OVER THE NORTH/WEST TERMINALS /BFD-JST/. VFR FLYING WILL RETURN TO JST MONDAY NIGHT AND BY TUESDAY ACROSS THE NW MTNS AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST. AN APPROACHING FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL LIKELY BRING DETERIORATING FLYING CONDS TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WED NIGHT WITH MIXED PRECIPITATION OR RAIN AT THE ONSET...THEN RAIN FOR CHRISTMAS EVE. ANOTHER BUBBLE OF HIGH PRESSURE MOVING IN FROM THE OHIO VALLEY WILL RETURN MAINLY VFR THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY...WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF POOR FLYING WEATHER DEVELOPING FOR NEXT WEEKEND. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM EST MONDAY FOR PAZ004>006- 010>012-017>019-024-025-033-034-037-041-042-045-046-058. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM EST MONDAY FOR PAZ017>019-024>028- 033>036-045-046-049>053-056>059-063>066. LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING FROM 3 AM TO 4 PM EST MONDAY FOR PAZ004. && SYNOPSIS...LACORTE/LAMBERT NEAR TERM...LACORTE/LAMBERT SHORT TERM...LAMBERT LONG TERM...BEACHLER AVIATION...STEINBUGL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1032 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2008 PAZ004-230345- WARREN- 1032 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2008 ...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST MONDAY... ...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 4 PM EST MONDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WIND CHILL ADVISORY. LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WIND CHILL ADVISORY. LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED. PAZ005-006-010>012-037-041-042-230345- MCKEAN-POTTER-ELK-CAMERON-NORTHERN CLINTON-TIOGA-NORTHERN LYCOMING- SULLIVAN- 1032 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2008 ...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST MONDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WIND CHILL ADVISORY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WIND CHILL ADVISORY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED. PAZ017>019-024-025-033-034-045-046-058-230345- CLEARFIELD-NORTHERN CENTRE-SOUTHERN CENTRE-CAMBRIA-BLAIR-SOMERSET- BEDFORD-SOUTHERN CLINTON-SOUTHERN LYCOMING-SCHUYLKILL- 1032 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2008 ...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST MONDAY... ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST MONDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WIND ADVISORY. WIND CHILL ADVISORY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WIND ADVISORY. WIND CHILL ADVISORY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED. PAZ026>028-035-036-049>053-056-057-059-063>066-230345- HUNTINGDON-MIFFLIN-JUNIATA-FULTON-FRANKLIN-UNION-SNYDER-MONTOUR- NORTHUMBERLAND-COLUMBIA-PERRY-DAUPHIN-LEBANON-CUMBERLAND-ADAMS-YORK- LANCASTER- 1032 PM EST SUN DEC 21 2008 ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST MONDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WIND ADVISORY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WIND ADVISORY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lake-effect snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Six to twelve inches of lake effect snow was reported across northwest Warren County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, December 2008
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: 138914.