Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, December 23 to 24, 2008

Name: Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, December 23 to 24, 2008
Start: 2008-12-23T22:00
End: 2008-12-24T10:00
Location: Pennsylvania

December 23 to 24, 2008 · NWS PHI · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

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: 2
Injuries: 10
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.

A wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain fell from the late evening of the 23rd into the morning on the 24th across eastern Pennsylvania. The resulting glaze on untreated roadways led to numerous accidents. Precipitation was spottier right around the local Philadelphia area, but was steadier elsewhere. Ice accretions in Philadelphia and the nearby northwest suburbs averaged around one tenth of an inch while ice accretions across Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos averaged around two-tenths of an inch. In Philadelphia and its nearby suburbs, precipitation started as sleet before Midnight EST on the 23rd and changed to freezing rain by 3 a.m. EST. In Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos, precipitation started briefly as sleet between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. EST and changed quickly to freezing rain. Temperatures continued to rise that morning and between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. EST, the freezing rain changed to plain rain. The change took the longest in the Poconos. The recent unseasonably cold weather made it easier for slippery conditions to develop on untreated roadways. Many serious accidents were reported as many vehicles slid off roadways or into oncoming or stopped traffic.

In Carbon County, a 29-year-old man was killed in a head-on collision with a plow truck on Pennsylvania State Route 903 in Penn Forest Township. In Monroe County, three rapid accidents occurred with the start of the freezing rain on Pennsylvania State Route 402 in Middle Smithfield Township.

Near the Northampton/Lehigh County border, a 47-year-old man died after his minivan crashed into a tractor-trailer that was already stopped for another accident on Eastbound Interstate 78 near Hellertown. Multiple pre-dawn accidents closed a four mile stretch of Eastbound Interstate 78 for seven hours from 330 a.m. EST through 1030 a.m. EST. One westbound lane of Interstate 78 was also closed for three hours because of an overturned tractor-trailer. In Northampton County, in Williams Township, Pennsylvania State Route 611 was closed after a vehicle slid into an embankment.

In Berks County, sections of U.S. Route 222 were closed in Maxatawny and Cumru Townships. A multi-vehicle accident closed Pennsylvania State Route 73 in Ruscombmanor Township. In addition several people were hurt after slipping on icy sidewalks and driveways.

Within the city of Philadelphia, a twenty-two vehicle crash that involved a bus and a tractor-trailer closed the Passyunk Avenue Bridge for several hours. There was also a ten vehicle accident on a southbound exit ramp of Interstate 95. There was a separate five vehicle accident on Interstate 95 itself and a six vehicle accident in the East Falls section of the city. In the northwest suburbs, parts of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and ramps to and from Interstates 76 and 476 were intermittently closed because of accidents and/or icy conditions. The Schuylkill Expressway, U.S. Route 422 and State Routes 30 and 3 were all adversely affected. An accident with an injury occurred in Hatfield (Montgomery County). Pennsylvania State Route 309 was closed because of a jack-knifed tractor trailer between Hilltown and Perkasie in Bucks County.

The freezing rain and sleet was caused by a low pressure system and its approaching warm front. Precipitation developed preceding the warm front. An arctic high pressure system left enough cold air near the surface for precipitation to start as sleet and freezing rain.

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 Dec 23, 8:53 PM EST, 1 hour 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 23, 8:53 PM EST, 1 hour 7 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 23, 9:02 PM EST, 58 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Dec 23, 9:08 PM EST, 52 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

10 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Chester

When: December 23, 10:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Chester forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather, Delaware

When: December 23, 10:00 PM EST to December 24, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Delaware forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Philadelphia

When: December 23, 10:00 PM EST to December 24, 2:00 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, Montgomery

When: December 23, 11:00 PM EST to December 24, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Injuries: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather, Bucks

When: December 23, 11:00 PM EST to December 24, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Bucks forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather, Berks

When: December 24, 2:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Berks forecast zone
Injuries: 5 direct, 3 indirect
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Lehigh

When: December 24, 2:00 AM EST to 9:00 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 Weather, Northampton

When: December 24, 2:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Northampton forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Carbon

When: December 24, 2:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where: Carbon forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Monroe

When: December 24, 2:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where: Monroe forecast zone
Injuries: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.058, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Winter Weather, Northampton	2008-12-24	47	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Indirect
Winter Weather, Carbon	2008-12-24	29	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Indirect

What these are

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 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, December 2008

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: 143394, 143395, 143396, 143397, 143398, 143399, 143400, 143401, 143402, 143403.