Pennsylvania, 2013

Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, February 19, 2013

February 19, 2013 · NWS PHI · 6 events in 5 counties and zones

An approaching cold front helped trigger snow and sleet over the Poconos and a snow to rain mixture in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley mainly during the late morning and afternoon of the 19th Snowfall averaged 1 to 3 inches and was more dependent on where the heavier precipitation fell vs just occurring in higher terrain locations. The snow fell moderately at times in the Poconos during the…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
6

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.

An approaching cold front helped trigger snow and sleet over the Poconos and a snow to rain mixture in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley mainly during the late morning and afternoon of the 19th Snowfall averaged 1 to 3 inches and was more dependent on where the heavier precipitation fell vs just occurring in higher terrain locations. The snow fell moderately at times in the Poconos during the early afternoon. The snow caused traffic accidents and some were reported along Interstate 78 near Kutztown in Berks County. Snow (started briefly as rain in parts of Berks County) began during the late morning on the 19th. As a warmer southwest flow persisted at both the surface and aloft, the snow changed to rain during the first half of the afternoon in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley. Precipitation though continued to fall as snow in the Poconos until it ended during the late afternoon.

Representative snowfall included 3.1 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 3.0 inches in Swiftwater (Monroe County), 2.5 inches in Summit Hill (Carbon County), 2.3 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County), 2.0 inches in Saylorsburg (Monroe County) and Wind Gap (Northampton County), 1.8 inches in Slatington (Lehigh County) and Jim Thorpe (Carbon County), 1.5 inches in Bushkill Township (Northampton County) and Nazareth (Northampton County), 1.3 inches in New Tripoli (Lehigh County) and 0.4 inches in Fleetwood (Berks County).| |The precipitation was caused by a cold front associated with a low pressure system that moved through the Great Lakes on the 19th. The front itself cleared Eastern Pennsylvania around 7 p.m. EST on the 19th and around a six hour period of precipitation preceded its passage.

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 19, 9:23 AM EST, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 19, 9:23 AM EST, 1 hour 37 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

6 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Berks

When
February 19, 11:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
Where
Berks forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Lehigh

When
February 19, 11:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where
Lehigh forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Lehigh

When
February 19, 11:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where
Lehigh forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Northampton

When
February 19, 11:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where
Northampton forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Carbon

When
February 19, 11:00 AM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Carbon forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Monroe

When
February 19, 11:00 AM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Monroe forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
41.058, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, February 2013

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 433794, 433795, 433797, 433798, 433800, 433802.