Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 12 to 13, 2011

Name: Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 12 to 13, 2011
Start: 2011-01-12T07:00
End: 2011-01-13T10:00
Location: Pennsylvania

January 12 to 13, 2011 · NWS CTP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Persistent lake effect and upslope snow showers produced locally heavy accumulations of 6 to 12 inches over the ridges of the Laurel Highlands.

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: 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.

Persistent lake effect and upslope snow showers produced locally heavy accumulations of 6 to 12 inches over the ridges of the Laurel Highlands.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Somerset

When: January 12, 7:00 AM EST to January 13, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Somerset forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 39.972, -79.028 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall totals ranged from 6 to 12 inches, mainly over the highest west-facing ridge-top areas across the western half of the county. The Laurel Summit COOP site received 9 inches by 700 EDT on the 13th, with 2-day storm totals well over one foot. Blustery winds produced below zero wind chills and considerable blowing and drifting of the snow.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, January 2011

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: 268251.