Pennsylvania, 2008

Lake-Effect Snow in Pennsylvania, November 16 to 17, 2008

November 16 to 17, 2008 · NWS CTP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Cold northwest flow over the Great Lakes produced numerous lake effect snow showers across the northwest mountains of central Pennsylvania. An intense band set up along the Pennsylvania New York border during the evening and overnight hours from the 16th into the 17th.

Where it happened

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.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 CTP wrote it up.

Cold northwest flow over the Great Lakes produced numerous lake effect snow showers across the northwest mountains of central Pennsylvania. An intense band set up along the Pennsylvania New York border during the evening and overnight hours from the 16th into the 17th. Snowfall amounts were highly variable and localized in nature, ranging from as little as a few inches to over a foot in extreme northwest Warren county.

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 State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 15, 5:06 PM EST, 17 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 15, 5:06 PM EST, 17 hours 54 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

1 lake-effect snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Lake-Effect Snow, Warren

When
November 16, 11:00 AM EST to November 17, 7:00 PM EST
Where
Warren forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
41.815, -79.274 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Warren county Emergency Management and PENN DOT officials reported a general six to twelve inch accumulation across the extreme northwest portion of the county. Localized amounts in this area exceeded a foot, with Bear Lake picking up sixteen to twenty inches.

What these are

Lake-Effect Snow
Heavy snow in bands downwind of a large lake as cold air crosses warmer water.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, November 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 135135.