Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, February 26, 2009

Name: Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, February 26, 2009
Start: 2009-02-26T07:00
End: 2009-02-26T09:00
Location: Pennsylvania

February 26, 2009 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A mixture of light freezing rain and sleet fell across parts of Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and Poconos during the morning of the 26th. m.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 12
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 PHI wrote it up.

A mixture of light freezing rain and sleet fell across parts of Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and Poconos during the morning of the 26th. Precipitation started around 7 a.m. EST and temperatures rose above freezing after 9 a.m. EST.

The wintry mix contributed to many accidents, especially in Berks County. In Berks County, in Robeson Township, a Twin Valley School District Bus lost roadway traction on a downhill curve on Westley Road and struck trees on both sides of the road. Ten school children were injured, four needed hospitalization and one was seriously hurt. In Penn Township, a 35-year-old woman was killed after she lost control of her vehicle on Southbound Pennsylvania State Route 183, crossed the roadway and struck a tree. The road was closed for two hours. In Tulpehocken Township, a sports utility vehicle struck a pole and tree. The pole fell across the road which was closed until the pole was repaired. A minivan struck an embankment on Pennsylvania State Route 419 injuring a 32-year-old female passenger. In Greenwich Township, a 48-year-old woman was injured after her vehicle spun out of control on Pennsylvania State Route 737, went down an embankment and ended on its side. In Perry Township, the driver of another vehicle that went down an embankment off of Pennsylvania State Route 662 escaped injury. Several minor accidents were also reported on Pennsylvania State Route 737 in Oley Township.

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 Feb 26, 6:30 AM EST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 26, 6:30 AM EST, 30 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, Feb 26, 4:41 AM EST, 2 hours 19 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>

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 26, 6:40 AM EST, 20 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

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Berks

When: February 26, 7:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Berks forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Injuries: 0 direct, 12 indirect
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 40.416, -75.926 (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, Berks	2009-02-26	35	Female	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 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, February 2009

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: 151642.