Pennsylvania, 2015

Extreme Cold in Pennsylvania, February 12 to 13, 2015

February 12 to 13, 2015 · NWS CTP · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

An arctic airmass combined with gusty winds resulted in frigid temperatures and extremely dangerous wind chills across far north-central Pennsylvania.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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
5

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.

An arctic airmass combined with gusty winds resulted in frigid temperatures and extremely dangerous wind chills across far north-central Pennsylvania.

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 State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 12, 6:53 PM EST, 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 12, 6:53 PM EST, 7 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 12, 3:09 PM EST, 3 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>

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 12, 5:25 PM EST, 1 hour 35 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>
Special weather statement, Feb 12, 6:02 PM EST, 58 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

5 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Warren

When
February 12, 7:00 PM EST to February 13, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Warren forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.815, -79.274 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme cold combined with gusty winds resulted in wind chill or apparent temperature values in the -25 to -35 range.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, McKean

When
February 12, 7:00 PM EST to February 13, 12:00 PM EST
Where
McKean forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.808, -78.569 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme cold combined with gusty winds resulted in wind chill or apparent temperature values in the -25 to -35 range.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Potter

When
February 12, 7:00 PM EST to February 13, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Potter forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.745, -77.896 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme cold combined with gusty winds resulted in wind chill or apparent temperature values in the -25 to -35 range.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Tioga

When
February 12, 7:00 PM EST to February 13, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Tioga forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.772, -77.254 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme cold combined with gusty winds resulted in wind chill or apparent temperature values in the -25 to -35 range.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Sullivan

When
February 12, 7:00 PM EST to February 13, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Sullivan forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.446, -76.512 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme cold combined with gusty winds resulted in wind chill or apparent temperature values in the -25 to -35 range.

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, February 2015

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: 562248, 562249, 562250, 562251, 562252.