The great Blizzard of 2016 which dumped record-breaking snows across southern Pennsylvania just clipped Luzerne, Pike and Lackawanna counties. The snow began during the early morning hours of the 23rd and lasted until the evening of the 23rd.
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 BGM wrote it up.
The great Blizzard of 2016 which dumped record-breaking snows across southern Pennsylvania just clipped Luzerne, Pike and Lackawanna counties. The snow began during the early morning hours of the 23rd and lasted until the evening of the 23rd. Snowfall totals generally ranged between 6 and 8 inches in southern Pike County and southern Lackawanna County. Up to 15.5 inches of snow fell in the Hazelton area with much less snow falling farther north. In the Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Honesdale areas, only 1 to 3 inches of snow fell from this massive storm for southern and east central Pennsylvania.
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 Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 23, 12:56 AM EST, 1 hour 4 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall ranged from around 1 inch in the far northern part of Luzerne County to 15.5 inches in West Hazelton in the south. There were unofficial reports of up to 18 inches of snow in the extreme southern portion of Luzerne County. The Wilkes-Barre area saw between 1 and 3 inches of snow.
Snowfall ranged from a dusting in the far northern part of Lackawanna County to 8.0 inches 1 mile east of Moscow which is in the far southern part of the county. The Scranton area only saw around 1 to 3 inches of snow.
Snowfall ranged from a few inches in the far northern part of Pike County to between 6.0 and 7.0 inches in Milford and Greentown.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, January 2016
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 617457, 617458, 617459.