A complex frontal system produced moderate to heavy snow and mixed precipitation over portions of south-central Pennsylvania. Light snow developed during the early morning hours with a several-hour lull in the wintry precipitation from mid-morning into the early afternoon.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS CTP wrote it up.
A complex frontal system produced moderate to heavy snow and mixed precipitation over portions of south-central Pennsylvania. Light snow developed during the early morning hours with a several-hour lull in the wintry precipitation from mid-morning into the early afternoon. The period of most intense snow and accompanying white-out conditions occurred from the mid-afternoon through the early evening. The snow ended during the late evening on the 18th with a period of light freezing drizzle tapering off during the overnight hours on the 19th.
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 Mar 17, 10:37 PM EST, 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1137 PM EDT SUN MAR 17 2013 .SYNOPSIS... A PRIMARY LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL TRACK WEST OF PENNSYLVANIA MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...AS A SECONDARY LOW PASSES SOUTHEAST OF THE STATE ACROSS THE DELMARVA PENINSULA. A COLD NORTHWEST FLOW PATTERN WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. HIGH LATITUDE BLOCKING WILL KEEP AN UPPER TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN U.S. FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE...WITH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES LIKELY CONTINUING INTO THE END OF THE MONTH. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM MONDAY MORNING/... HIGH PRES AND ASSOC DRY AIR MASS NOSING SOUTHEAST INTO PA THIS EVENING...BRINGING CLEARING SKIES TO THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE AND THINNING CIRRUS OVR THE SOUTH. DEVELOPING SFC LOW OVR THE MISS VALLEY WILL LIFT NE INTO THE OHIO VALLEY LATE TONIGHT. LATEST MDL DATA SUGGESTS SNOW WILL BREAK OUT ACROSS THE LAUREL HIGHLANDS ARND 06Z...AS WAA DEVELOPS IN ADVANCE OF WAVE. MDLS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT THAT NORTHERN EDGE OF SNOW SHOULD REACH FROM ARND CLEARFIELD SE TO YORK BY 12Z MONDAY. BY DAWN...ENOUGH WARM AIR ALOFT IS INDICATED BY MDLS TO HAVE LIKELY CHANGED SNOW TO MIXED PRECIP ACROSS SOMERSET CO...BUT NOT BEFORE 1-3 INCHES ACCUMULATE. ALSO OF NOTE WILL BE THE INCREASINGLY GUSTY SE WINDS ACROSS THE LAURELS...AS GRADIENT TIGHTENS BTWN APPROACHING LOW AND HIGH OVR NEW ENG. LATEST BUFKIT SOUNDINGS SUPPORT GUSTS UP TO 30KTS OVR CAMBRIA/SOMERSET CO BY DAWN. THE DRY AIR AND PARTIAL CLEARING OVR THE NORTH SHOULD ALLOW TEMPS TO FALL TO THE UTEENS ACROSS THE N MTNS OVERNIGHT...WHILE THICKENING CLOUD COVER ALLOWS TEMPS TO FALL NO LOWER THAN THE M/U20S ACROSS THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... AS PRIMARY LOW PRES CENTER TRACKS WEST OF PA...A SURGE OF WAA WILL OVERSPREAD CENTRAL PA MONDAY. THIS SCENARIO USUALLY RESULTS IN A FAIRLY QUICK TRANSITION FROM SNOW TO MIXED PRECIP OVR CENTRAL PA. HOWEVER...COLD HIGH PRESSURE OVR NEW ENGLAND AND DEVELOPMENT OF A SECONDARY LOW NEAR THE COAST WILL ACT TO LOCK COLD AIR IN OVER CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL PA. ENS PTYPE PROBS AND LATEST OPER MDL SOUNDINGS INDICATE PTYPE REMAINING SNOW UNTIL EARLY EVENING OVR THIS AREA WITH ACCUMS OF 4-7 INCHES LIKELY. ACROSS THE LOWER SUSQ VALLEY AND WARREN COUNTY...WILL MAINTAIN THE ADVISORY FOR MUCH LOWER SNOWFALL AMTS AND SOME LIGHT ICING POTENTIAL. BULK OF MDL GUIDANCE INDICATES AFTER A PERIOD OF LGT SNOW MONDAY MORNING...THE LOWER SUSQ VALLEY WILL SEE A LULL IN THE PRECIP UNTIL ARRIVAL OF LL JET AND TRANSITION TO RAIN LATE IN THE DAY. THUS...BELIEVE AREAS FROM HARRISBURG SOUTH AND EAST WILL LIKELY ONLY SEE ARND AN INCH OF SNOW. WILL KEEP ADVISORY INTACT FOR NOW...DUE TO SOME LIGHT ICING POTENTIAL INTO MON EVENING. SNOW AMTS ACROSS WARREN CO MAY BE A BIT HIGHER...BUT A CHANGE TO RAIN IS ALSO LIKELY THERE BY LATE AFTN OR EARLY EVENING. AS ANOMALOUS SOUTHERLY LL JET SWINGS THRU MON EVENING...TEMPS GO ABV FREEZING ALOFT IN NEARLY EVERY ENS MEMBER AND OPER RUN... INDICATING THE THREAT OF SNOW WILL BE OVER BY ARND 00Z...EVEN ACROSS THE NE ZONES. PYTPE ISSUE WILL THEN BE RAIN VS FZRA AND BULK OF MDL DATA INDICATES THE NORTH CENTRAL MTNS WILL BE THE AREA MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO SIG ICING MON NIGHT. HI-RES NAM SFC TEMPS SUGGEST THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF CENTRAL PA MAY REMAIN NR 32F. HOWEVER...IMPROVING ROAD CONDITIONS SEEM LIKELY OVR MOST OF THE AREA SOUTH OF I-80 MON NIGHT AS PRECIP TRANSITIONS TO MAINLY RAIN. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... THE LONG TERM PERIOD LOOKS TO BE DOMINATED BY BROAD UPPER TROFFING OVER NORTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA WITH FAST...GENERALLY ZONAL FLOW ACROSS THE SRN U.S. BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO DOMINATE AS A RESULT. THIS WILL REMAIN A HIGHLY ENERGETIC LONGWAVE PATTERN...BUT AT LEAST EARLY IN THE PERIOD ALLOW LITTLE SIGNIFICANT STORM DEVELOPMENT FOR THE EAST IN THE WAKE OF THE SYSTEM EARLY IN THE WEEK. WIDESPREAD SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TUESDAY AS THE MAIN STORM SYSTEM EXITS. SNOW/RAIN SHOWERS WILL BECOME MORE SCATTERED WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY...AFFECTING MOSTLY THE MAIN LAKE EFFECT REGIONS ON PERSISTING NWRLY FLOW. WIND FLOW IS FORECAST TO BECOME MORE NRLY BY FRI FURTHER REDUCING COVERAGE OF ANY LINGERING SHOWERS. THE NEXT POTENTIAL STORM SYSTEM IS A SOUTHERN STREAM WAVE IN THE GFS AND EC...MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHERN GULF COAST NEXT WEEKEND. AT THIS POINT...WITH ANY AFFECTS WELL SOUTH OF THE COMMONWEALTH. && .AVIATION /04Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... CURRENT FCST GOOD. NO CHANGES MADE TO 03Z TAFS. AS BEEN THE CASE ALL AFTERNOON...PRECIPITATION NOT FAR AWAY ONCE ONE GETS SOUTH OF THE PA BORDER. LEFT TIMING IN 00Z TAF PACKAGE SIMILAR TO 18Z TAF PACKAGE. EXPECT AREA OF SNOW TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA EARLY MONDAY MORNING... AND LIFT NE. THE SNOW WILL MIX WITH AND CHANGE TO SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN LATER IN THE DAY. WINDS WILL BECOME GUSTY. THE COMBINATION OF A STRONG LLJ...COLD AIR DAMMING...AND STRONG WARM ADVECTION WILL LEAD TO THE SNOW BEING HEAVY AT TIMES. THE STRONG UPWARD MOTION AND THE NE FLOW OF DRY AIR FROM THE NORTH WILL KEEP TEMPS FROM COMING UP MUCH...AS WAS THE CASE ON SATURDAY. THUS DID NOT RUSH THE CHANGEOVER. THE MIXED PRECIPITATION MAY GO OVER TO JUST RAIN FOR A BRIEF TIME MONDAY NIGHT BEFORE TAPERING OFF FROM WEST TO EAST. IT WILL BECOME WINDY AND COLDER LATER TUE WITH SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS...AS THE COASTAL LOW BECOMES THE PRIMARY STORM. SUCH CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL FOR MUCH OF THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK INTO NEXT WEEK...AS A LARGE VORTEX REMAINS OVER EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. A LOT OF SPREAD IN MODEL SOLUTIONS TO DETAILS. AT THIS POINT...NOT SEEING A LOT OF DATA TO SUPPORT A MAJOR NORTHEASTER LATE NEXT WEEKEND...BUT EITHER WAY...SPRING IS ON HOLD...WITH LESS THAN GREAT CONDITIONS FOR AVIATION. OUTLOOK... TUE-FRI...GUSTY WEST TO NW FLOW. MVFR/IFR WITH OCNL -SHSN WEST. MAINLY VFR SE. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 8 AM MONDAY TO 8 AM EDT TUESDAY FOR PAZ005-006-010>012-037-041-042-045-046. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 5 AM MONDAY TO 8 AM EDT TUESDAY FOR PAZ017>019-025-026-035. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 8 AM MONDAY TO 8 AM EDT TUESDAY FOR PAZ004-027-028-036-049>053-056>059-063>066. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT MONDAY NIGHT FOR PAZ024-033. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 8 AM EDT TUESDAY FOR PAZ034. && SYNOPSIS...FITZGERALD/LA CORTE NEAR TERM...FITZGERALD SHORT TERM...FITZGERALD/LA CORTE LONG TERM...GARTNER/STEINBUGL AVIATION...MARTIN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 939 PM EDT SUN MAR 17 2013 PAZ024-033-190145- CAMBRIA-SOMERSET- 939 PM EDT SUN MAR 17 2013 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM MONDAY TO MIDNIGHT EDT MONDAY NIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER STORM WARNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER STORM WARNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. PAZ017>019-025-026-035-190145- CLEARFIELD-NORTHERN CENTRE-SOUTHERN CENTRE-BLAIR-HUNTINGDON-FULTON- 939 PM EDT SUN MAR 17 2013 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 5 AM MONDAY TO 8 AM EDT TUESDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER STORM WARNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER STORM WARNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. PAZ004-027-028-036-049>053-056>059-063>066-190145- WARREN-MIFFLIN-JUNIATA-FRANKLIN-UNION-SNYDER-MONTOUR-NORTHUMBERLAND- COLUMBIA-PERRY-DAUPHIN-SCHUYLKILL-LEBANON-CUMBERLAND-ADAMS-YORK- LANCASTER- 939 PM EDT SUN MAR 17 2013 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM MONDAY TO 8 AM EDT TUESDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. PAZ005-006-010>012-037-041-042-045-046-190145- MCKEAN-POTTER-ELK-CAMERON-NORTHERN CLINTON-TIOGA-NORTHERN LYCOMING- SULLIVAN-SOUTHERN CLINTON-SOUTHERN LYCOMING- 939 PM EDT SUN MAR 17 2013 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM MONDAY TO 8 AM EDT TUESDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER STORM WARNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. PAZ034-190145- BEDFORD- 939 PM EDT SUN MAR 17 2013 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM MONDAY TO 8 AM EDT TUESDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER STORM WARNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER STORM WARNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Storm total snow accumulations between 6 and 10 inches were observed mainly over the northern half of the county.
Storm total snow accumulations around 6 inches were observed mainly over the southern half of the county.
Storm total snow accumulations around 6 inches were observed mainly over the northern half of the county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, March 2013
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: 430120, 430121, 430122.