Lake-Effect Snow in Pennsylvania, November 20 to 22, 2008

Name: Lake-Effect Snow in Pennsylvania, November 20 to 22, 2008
Start: 2008-11-20T12:00
End: 2008-11-22T09:00
Location: Pennsylvania

November 20 to 22, 2008 · NWS CLE · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

An area of low pressure passed to the north of Lake Erie during the morning hours of November 12th. A cold front trailing the low swept east across northwestern Pennsylvania by midday.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: $725,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 CLE wrote it up.

An area of low pressure passed to the north of Lake Erie during the morning hours of November 12th. A cold front trailing the low swept east across northwestern Pennsylvania by midday. Behind the front, cold northwest winds blowing across Lake Erie caused lake effect snow showers to develop around midday on the 20th. This activity intensified during the evening of the 20th and early morning hours of the 21st. After a brief lull, another band of locally heavy snow affected southeastern Erie County during the early morning hours of the 22nd. The snow shower activity tapered off late in the morning on the 22nd after dropping significant accumulations on portions of northwestern Pennsylvania. Storm totals of over 20 inches of snow were reported at a few locations. By the conclusion of this event, seasonal snowfall totals at few locations in inland Erie County were already in excess of 50 inches. Gusty north to northwest winds accompanied the snow showers and caused considerable blowing and drifting. Travel was severely hampered and many accidents reported during this event.

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 Cleveland, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 20, 5:54 AM EST, 6 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 20, 5:54 AM EST, 6 hours 6 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 20, 4:09 AM EST, 7 hours 51 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Lake-Effect Snow, Northern Erie

When: November 20, 12:00 PM EST to November 22, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Erie forecast zone
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 42.118, -80.098 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake effect snow showers began around midday on November 20th and intensified during the evening hours. This activity continued through the 21st and finally tapered off early on the 22nd. Six to eight inches of snow was reported along the Erie County lake shore by early on the 21st. A peak total in northern Erie County of 9.3 inches was reported in Mill Creek Township. Most of this total occurred by mid morning on the 21st. Gusty north to northwest winds accompanied the snow showers and caused a lot of blowing and drifting. A peak gust of 38 mph was recorded at Erie International Airport on the 21st. Travel was severely hampered during this event and many accidents were reported.

Lake-Effect Snow, Southern Erie

When: November 20, 12:00 PM EST to November 22, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Erie forecast zone
Property damage: $275,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 42.118, -80.098 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake effect snow showers began around midday on November 20th and intensified during the evening hours. This activity continued through the 21st and finally tapered off early on the 22nd. Significant accumulation occurred across portions of inland Erie County during this event. Six to eight inches of snow was reported by early on the 21st with an additional six to ten inches reported by midday on the 21st. After a brief lull, another band of locally heavy snow affected southeastern Erie County during the early morning hours of the 22nd. Up to an additional foot of snow was reported with that band. Storm total accumulations exceeded 20 inches in several areas. Spotters located a few miles south of North East reported 22.0 and 20.5 inches respectively. A spotter in Amity Township measured 20.0 inches of snow with 15.3 inches at Franklin Center. A spotter near Corry reported an event total 22.5 inches with a total of 50 inches for the week ending November 22nd. North to northwest winds gusting to as much as 30 mph accompanied the snow showers and caused a lot of blowing and drifting. Travel was severely hampered during this event and many accidents were reported. On the morning of the 22nd near Corry, a barn roof collapsed under the weight of over three feet of snow. Reports indicated that there were animals inside the barn but their status was unknown.

Lake-Effect Snow, Crawford

When: November 20, 12:00 PM EST to November 22, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Crawford forecast zone
Property damage: $250,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.685, -80.106 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake effect snow showers began around midday on November 20th and intensified during the evening hours. This activity continued through the 21st and finally tapered off during the morning hours of the 22nd. Heavy snow was reported over roughly the northern half of Crawford County with lesser amounts of snow further south. Six to twelve inches of snow was reported in the north by daybreak on the 21st with an additional four to eight inches reported by early afternoon. After a brief lull, another band of locally heavy snow affected northeastern Crawford County during the early morning hours of the 22nd. Up to an additional foot of snow was reported with that band. Event totals exceeded 20 inches in a few areas. A peak total of 24.7 inches was reported near Canadohta Lake in the northeastern corner of the county. A spotter near Crossingville reported a storm total of 19.5 inches. Gusty north to northwest winds accompanied the snow showers and caused a lot of blowing and drifting. Travel was severely hampered during this event and many accidents were reported.

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

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 142275, 142276, 142277.