A clipper low moved east from the Great Lakes and into the Northeast, producing periods of moderate to heavy snow over the Alleghenies and Laurel Highlands. Storm total snowfall generally ranged from five to ten inches.
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.
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.
A clipper low moved east from the Great Lakes and into the Northeast, producing periods of moderate to heavy snow over the Alleghenies and Laurel Highlands. Storm total snowfall generally ranged from five to ten inches. The heaviest snow was confined to the highest mountain elevations across Cambria and Somerset Counties.
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 Feb 29, 11:28 AM EST, 1 hour 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1128 AM EST FRI FEB 29 2008 .SYNOPSIS... LOW PRESSURE WILL TRACK ACROSS SOUTHERN ONTARIO THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS STORM WILL SPREAD A 5 TO 8 HOUR OF SNOW ACROSS THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT. A BRISK NORTHWEST WIND AND COLD CONDITIONS WITH MAINLY MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR DURING THE DAY SATURDAY. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE REGION ON SUNDAY. AN INTENSIFYING STORM SYSTEM ALONG THE GULF COAST WILL TRACK NORTH TOWARD WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA ON TUESDAY. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... REGIONAL 88D LOOP SHOWS SNOW SPREADING ACROSS WRN PENN...PRETTY MUCH ON TRACK WITH PREVIOUS GRIDS AND ZONE TEXT. VERY LITTLE IN THE WAY OF CHANGES FOR THIS LATE MORNING UPDATE...OTHER THAN A FEW MINOR DOWNWARD ADJUSTMENTS TO THE HOURLY AND MAX TEMPS THIS AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING AND A INCREASE IN POPS BY 10-20 PERCENT BETTER REFLECTING THE CERTAINTY OF THE SNOWFALL ACROSS CENTRAL AND NRN PENN. 15Z SREF AND 06Z/12Z OPERATIONAL MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT W/RESPECT TO LIQ EQUIVALENT QPF ACROSS THE REGION WITH THIS CURRENT CLIPPER SYSTEM...GENERALLY IN THE 3-5 TENTH RANGE ACROSS THE NW 2/3RDS OF THE CWA...AND SLIGHTLY LOWER AMOUNTS ACROSS THE SE ZONES. THIS TRANSLATES INTO A STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL OF 4-6 INCHES ACROSS THE NRN AND WRN MTNS...A SOLID 3-4 INCHES ACROSS THE MIDDLE SUSQ VALLEY AND CENTRAL MTNS...AND 1-3 INCHES ACROSS THE FAR SOUTH AND LOWER SUSQ VALLEY WHERE LOWER SNOW-WATER RATIOS AND BRIEF MIXING WITH RAIN WILL OCCUR. MAX UVVEL IS NEAR OR JUST A TAD BELOW THE PRIME DENDRITIC SNOW GROWTH THERMAL RIBBON BETWEEN 9-13 KFT AGL LATER TODAY THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT...WHICH SHOULD LEAD TO SOME PERIODS OF 1/4-1/2SM SNOW (WITH HOURLY ACCUM RATES OF 1/2-1 INCH LIKELY BETWEEN 21Z AND 04Z) AS IS EVIDENT ACROSS OHIO ATTM. PAINTED GRIDS WITH BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW TO COVER THIS ASPECT. WILL CLOSELY MONITOR PROGRESSION OF THE PRECIP TWD OUR SRN ZONES WHERE WE MADE NEED TO EXTEND ADVISORIES SEWRD WITH THE AFTERNOON PACKAGE SHOULD FCST QPF TREND HIGHER WITH A BETTER PROBABILITY FOR ALL SNOW. BY 06Z...THE LLVL JET AXIS WILL BE EXITING EASTERN PA...SO EXPECT STEADY SNOW TO TAPER OFF TO SCT LAKE EFFECT -SHSN OVR THE ALLEGHENY HIGHLANDS. MODEL SOUNDINGS SUGGEST PTYPE OVR THE LOWER SUSQ VALLEY WITH THIS EVENT WILL BE MARGINAL RAIN/SNOW. THUS...ANY ACCUMULATIONS IN THIS AREA LIKELY TO REMAIN BLW 1 INCH...AS 2M TEMPS ACTUALLY RISE ABV THE FREEZING MARK BY LATE IN THE DAY...AND REMAIN THERE THRU TONIGHT. OROGRAPHIC ENHANCEMENT WILL LIKELY RESULT IN MAX ACCUMS OVR THE ALLEGHENY HIGHLANDS...WHERE 5-6 INCHES (STORM TOTAL SNOW) SEEMS HIGHLY PROBABLE BASED ON SREF AND HPC QPF. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY/... POTENT MID-LVL TROF WILL SWING THRU ON SATURDAY AS THE GLKS CLIPPER LOW TRACKS EWD INTO NEW ENGLAND...PROVIDING A SHOT OF PRETTY CHILLY AIR TO THE REGION. OROGRAPHICALLY ENHANCED LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WILL LINGER SATURDAY ACROSS THE NW MTNS AND LAUREL HIGHLANDS. HAVE GONE ABV MOS POPS IN THIS REGION BASED ON CLIMATOLOGY AND SREF QPF PLUME DATA...WHICH SUPPORT LIGHT ADDITIONAL ACCUMS. EAST OF MTNS SCT FLURRIES...BLUSTERY AND COLD CONDS EXPECTED. 850 TEMPS ARND -11C SUPPORT HIGHS ONLY FROM U20S MTNS...TO NR 40F LOWER SUSQ VALLEY. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... SFC HI PRES BUILDS IN FM THE SW BY SUNDAY...EFFECTIVELY SHUTTING OFF ANY LINGERING -SHSN ACTIVITY AND ALLOWING FOR A GRADUAL DEC IN CLOUDS. HI PRES QUICKLY SHIFTS EWD SUNDAY NIGHT IN ADVANCE OF A WARM FNT LIFTING NEWD THRU THE OH VLY/GLKS. MINS COULD OCCUR EARLY SUN NIGHT WITH TEMPS STEADY TO SLOWLY RISING INTO EARLY MONDAY GIVEN INC LOW/MID LVL WAA/SRLY FLOW. HOWEVER...TEMPS STILL MAY BE COLD ENUF CLOSE TO THE SFC TO SUPPORT A LIGHT WINTRY MIX. MONDAY LOOKS QUITE MILD AS THE 850MB THERMAL RIDGE MOVES INTO THE NORTHEAST. AN INFLUX OF RATHER MILD...AND INCREASING MOIST AIR /ORIGINATING FM THE GOMEX/ SHOULD GRADUALLY MOVE INTO THE REGION FM THE SW BY MON NGT BEHIND STG SSWLY LLVL FLOW OUT AHEAD OF DUEL LOW PRES CENTERS OVER THE GLKS AND SRN TX... EACH CONTAINED WITHIN A DEVELOPING SPLIT FLOW REGIME. ALL EYES WILL THEN TURN TO A SIG STORM SYS FCST TO DEVELOP OVR THE LWR MS VLY AND TRACK NEWD UP THE APPALACHIANS AND INTO THE UPR OH VLY BY MID WEEK. SHORT WAVE ENERGY WILL SPLIT AS IT MOVES EAST OUT OF THE ROCKIES BY EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH GUID SHOWING SRN STREAM AMPLIFICATION AS THE BULK OF THE MID/UPR LVL ENERGY/STG HGT FALLS DIGS INTO TX/LA. THIS SHOULD RESULT IN RAPID SFC CYCLOGENESIS DOWNSTREAM OVR THE LWR MS VLY BY MON NGT. THE LATEST GFS/EC ARE NOW IN AGREEMENT IN DEPICTING THE EVOLUTION OF THE LWR MS VLY CYCLONE...TRACKING IT NEWD ALONG OR JUST WEST OF THE APPALACHIANS. THE GEFS HAS BEEN STEADFAST IN SHOWING THIS TRACK OVER THE LAST FEW RUNS...EFFECTIVELY SPLITTING THE DIFF BTWN THE GFS AND EC. AS THE ASSOC MID-LVL TROF TAKES ON A NEG TILT...THE AFOREMENTIONED LOW PRESSURE SYS IS FCST TO INTENSIFY RAPIDLY /TO -2 TO -3SD/ BY THE TIME IT REACHES THE UPR OH VLY TUE EVE. CONCEPTUALLY...THIS SETS UP A WELL-DEFINED WARM SECTOR COMPLETE WITH VERY STG...DEEP SLY FLOW AND ABV NORMAL PWS FOCUSED INTO CENTRAL PA. THIS TYPE OF SYNOPTIC PATTERN IS CONDUCIVE TO HEAVY RNFL IN PA AND HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED IN SEVERAL LOCAL STUDIES. ALTHOUGH DETAILS OF THIS SYS ARE STILL INHERENTLY NOT CERTAIN GIVEN THE D6/7 TIMEFRAME...CONFIDENCE IS FAIRLY HIGH IN A SIGNIFICANT STORM SYSTEM AFFECTING THE AREA BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. POTENTIAL IS THERE FOR 1-2 STORM TOTAL QPF...GIVEN THE FAVORED SYNOPTIC SET-UP...IMPRESSIVE DYNAMICS AND PW AVAILABILITY. FINAL GRIDS WERE COMPOSED PRIMARILY USING A 50/50 HPC/GMOS BLEND TO ACCOUNT FOR UNCERTAINTY IN THE DETAILS. HAVE ALSO TWEAKED TEMPS FOR TUE/WED USING THE BIAS-CORRECTED NAEFS...WHICH HAS SHOWN CONSIDERABLE SKILL DURING ANOMALOUS EVENTS. PCPN SHOULD TRANSITION OVER TO SHSN AS THIS SYS PULLS NEWD INTO NEW ENGLAND LATE TUE INTO WED. FLOW ALOFT QUICKLY TURNS SWLY ON THUR...SO DON/T THINK THAT THE AIRMASS BEHIND THIS STORM WILL BE ALL THAT COLD. A FAST MOVG CLIPPER COULD SWING THROUGH FOR LATE NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION /16Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... VFR CONDITIONS WILL QUICKLY TRANSITION INTO IFR FOR VSBYS AND CIGS AT JST/AOO/UNV AND BORDER LIFR AT BFD. LL MOISTURE WILL WORK INTO THE EASTERN AIRFIELDS THIS AFTN. CLIPPER SYSTEM WILL SLIDE EAST INTO SE QUEBEC AFT 18Z...ALLOWING MOISTURE TO SATURATE THE ATMOSPHERE. EXPECT SNOW TO DEV FOR BFD/AOO/UNV/JST BTWN 18-21Z WITH PERIODS OF SNOW PRODUCING IFR CIGS AND VSBYS LATE FRI AFTN THROUGH EARLY SAT. AT JST/BFD LL MOISTURE COULD LINGER THUS HOLDING ONTO IFR CONDITIONS INTO 06Z SAT. MOISTURE WILL BE LGT ACROSS SE AIRFIELDS...WITH ONSET OF PRECIP FALLING AS RAIN/SNOW BECOMING ALL SNOW AFT 03Z SAT. NW FLOW WILL PRODUCE PREDOMINATELY MVFR CONDS OVR THE ALLEGHENY HIGHLANDS /JST AND BFD/ SATURDAY...WHILE VFR CONDS LIKELY TO DOMINATE EAST OF THE MTNS. IMPROVING CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO RETURN SUNDAY AS ANOTHER NORTH/SOUTH RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS EAST ACROSS THE REGION. WIDESPREAD MVFR TO IFR CIGS AND VSBYS WILL OVERSPREAD THE REGIONAL AIRFIELDS FROM THE SW LATE MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AS A SIGNIFICANT...AND MOISTURE LADEN STORM SYSTEM TAKES AIM ON PENN AND THE ENTIRE MID ATLANTIC REGION. PRECIP TYPE IS STILL UNCERTAIN WITH ODDS WEIGHTED TOWARD MAINLY RAIN AT THIS POINT DUE TO A STORM TRACK NE ACROSS...OR PERHAPS JUST TO THE WEST OF PENN. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM EST SATURDAY FOR PAZ004>006-010>012- 017>019-024-025-033-034-037-041-042-045-046-053-058. && SYNOPSIS...FITZGERALD/LAMBERT NEAR TERM...FITZGERALD/LAMBERT SHORT TERM...FITZGERALD LONG TERM...STEINBUGL AVIATION...BEACHLER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1200 PM EST FRI FEB 29 2008 PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024-025-033-034-037-041-042-045-046-053- 058-011700- WARREN-MCKEAN-POTTER-ELK-CAMERON-NORTHERN CLINTON-CLEARFIELD- NORTHERN CENTRE-SOUTHERN CENTRE-CAMBRIA-BLAIR-SOMERSET-BEDFORD-TIOGA- NORTHERN LYCOMING-SULLIVAN-SOUTHERN CLINTON-SOUTHERN LYCOMING- COLUMBIA-SCHUYLKILL- 1200 PM EST FRI FEB 29 2008 ...SNOW ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM EST SATURDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. SNOW ADVISORY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY...A SLOW MOVING AND MOISTURE LADEN STORM WILL APPROACH FROM THE OHIO VALLEY OR CENTRAL APPALACHIANS. THIS STORM COULD BRING WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINFALL IN EXCESS OF ONE INCH. IF HEAVY RAIN DOES OCCUR...IT MAY COMBINE WITH SNOW MELT TO PRODUCE FLOODING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO REPORT SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE. PAZ026>028-035-036-049>052-056-057-059-063>066-011700- HUNTINGDON-MIFFLIN-JUNIATA-FULTON-FRANKLIN-UNION-SNYDER-MONTOUR- NORTHUMBERLAND-PERRY-DAUPHIN-LEBANON-CUMBERLAND-ADAMS-YORK-LANCASTER- 1200 PM EST FRI FEB 29 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY...A SLOW MOVING AND MOISTURE LADEN STORM WILL APPROACH FROM THE OHIO VALLEY OR CENTRAL APPALACHIANS. THIS STORM COULD BRING WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINFALL IN EXCESS OF ONE INCH. IF HEAVY RAIN DOES OCCUR...IT MAY COMBINE WITH SNOW MELT TO PRODUCE FLOODING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO REPORT SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE. DANGELO/LAMBERT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
WJAC-TV reported six inches of snow at their studio in the Westmont area by the early evening. Snow continued into the late evening with storm totals of nine to fourteen inches reported at Ebensburg (COOP), Nanty Glo and Westmont.
COOP reports from Laurel Summit and Somerset along with spotter reports from Boswell indicated that six inches of snow had fallen by the early evening. Snow continued into the late evening with storm totals of five to ten inches at these locations.
PennDot reported six to eight inches of snow across Elk County.
PennDot reported six to nine inches of snow across Cameron County.
PennDot reported six to eight inches of snow across Clearfield 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, February 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: 73470, 73472, 74722, 74723, 74724.