Pennsylvania, 2016

Freezing Fog in Pennsylvania, January 8, 2016

January 8, 2016 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Moisture trapped below a subsidence inversion located around 4000 feet MSL, in combination with very cold temperatures at the surface, produced pockets of light freezing fog and light freezing drizzle, under the inversion and primarily at the highest elevations. A trace of ice was reported on windshields in Williams Township, Northampton County, during the early overnight hours of January 8th.

Where it happened

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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 PHI wrote it up.

Moisture trapped below a subsidence inversion located around 4000 feet MSL, in combination with very cold temperatures at the surface, produced pockets of light freezing fog and light freezing drizzle, under the inversion and primarily at the highest elevations. A trace of ice was reported on windshields in Williams Township, Northampton County, during the early overnight hours of January 8th. Parts of Williams Township are about 700 ASL.

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 Jan 7, 11:54 PM EST, 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 7, 11:54 PM EST, 44 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 7, 4:03 PM EST, 8 hours 35 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

1 freezing fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Freezing Fog, Northampton

When
January 8, 12:38 AM EST to 2:00 AM EST
Where
Northampton forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trace of ice was reported on windshields in Williams Township by a trained spotter. Parts of Williams Township are 700 feet ASL.

What these are

Freezing Fog
Fog that froze on contact with roads, vehicles or structures.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, January 2016

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 607348.