Extreme Cold and Strong Wind in Pennsylvania, December 23 to 25, 2022

Name: Extreme Cold and Strong Wind in Pennsylvania, December 23 to 25, 2022
Start: 2022-12-23T12:00
End: 2022-12-25T09:03
Location: Pennsylvania

December 23 to 25, 2022 · NWS CTP · 21 events in 21 counties and zones

An arctic airmass pushed into central Pennsylvania behind a bombing area of low pressure that moved from the eastern Great Lakes northward into eastern Canada. The rapid intensification of this system caused winds to gust to 40 to 55 mph, as temperatures fell below zero (and wind chills of -25 to -35 degrees F) across Pennsylvania's western highlands and central mountains during the afternoon of…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 21 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: $20,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 21

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.

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 Dec 22, 2:30 PM EST, 21 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 22, 2:30 PM EST, 21 hours 30 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 22, 5:16 PM EST, 18 hours 44 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

20 extreme cold/wind chill, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Cambria

When: December 23, 12:00 PM EST to December 24, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Cambria forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 40.495, -78.714 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -40 degrees were observed across Cambria County for a 24 hour period from midday on December 23, 2022 to midday on December 24, 2022. Due to the extreme cold, there were multiple reports of water line breaks in Richland Township, including at the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport control tower.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Somerset

When: December 23, 12:00 PM EST to December 24, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Somerset forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 39.972, -79.028 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -40 degrees were observed across Somerset County for a 24 hour period from midday on December 23, 2022 to midday on December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Clearfield

When: December 23, 12:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Clearfield forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.000, -78.474 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -35 degrees were observed across Clearfield County for nearly 24 hours from December 23, 2022 into December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Elk

When: December 23, 12:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Elk forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.425, -78.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -35 degrees were observed across Elk County for nearly 24 hours from December 23, 2022 into December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Cameron

When: December 23, 12:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Cameron forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.437, -78.204 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -35 degrees were observed across Cameron County for nearly 24 hours from December 23, 2022 into December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, McKean

When: December 23, 1:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: McKean forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.808, -78.569 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across McKean County for nearly 24 hours from December 23, 2022 into December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Warren

When: December 23, 1:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Warren forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.815, -79.274 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across Warren County for nearly 24 hours from December 23, 2022 into December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Potter

When: December 23, 1:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Potter forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.745, -77.896 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across Potter County for nearly 24 hours from December 23, 2022 into December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Clinton

When: December 23, 1:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Clinton forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.234, -77.638 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across northern Clinton County for nearly 24 hours from December 23, 2022 into December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Centre

When: December 23, 1:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Centre forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 40.919, -77.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -35 degrees were observed across northern Centre County for nearly 24 hours from December 23, 2022 into December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Blair

When: December 23, 2:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Blair forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 40.481, -78.349 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -35 degrees were observed across Blair County from the afternoon of December 23, 2022 into the morning of December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Bedford

When: December 23, 2:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Bedford forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 40.007, -78.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -35 degrees were observed across Bedford County from the afternoon of December 23, 2022 into the morning of December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Tioga

When: December 23, 3:00 PM EST to December 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Tioga forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.772, -77.254 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across Tioga County from the afternoon of December 23, 2022 into the morning of December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Lycoming

When: December 23, 3:00 PM EST to December 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Lycoming forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.343, -77.064 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across northern Lycoming County from the afternoon of December 23, 2022 into the morning of December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Centre

When: December 23, 3:00 PM EST to December 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Centre forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 40.919, -77.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across southern Centre County from the afternoon of December 23, 2022 into the morning of December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Sullivan

When: December 23, 4:00 PM EST to December 24, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Sullivan forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.446, -76.512 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across Sullivan County from the afternoon of December 23, 2022 into the morning of December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Huntingdon

When: December 23, 4:00 PM EST to December 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Huntingdon forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 40.417, -77.981 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across Huntingdon County from the afternoon of December 23, 2022 into the morning of December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Fulton

When: December 23, 4:00 PM EST to December 24, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Fulton forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 39.925, -78.113 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across Fulton County from the afternoon of December 23, 2022 into the morning of December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Clinton

When: December 23, 5:00 PM EST to December 24, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Clinton forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.234, -77.638 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across southern Clinton County from the afternoon of December 23, 2022 into the morning of December 24, 2022.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Lycoming

When: December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Lycoming forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.343, -77.064 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of -25 to -30 degrees were observed across southern Lycoming County from the afternoon of December 23, 2022 into the morning of December 24, 2022.

Strong Wind, Schuylkill

When: December 23, 6:34 PM EST to December 25, 9:03 AM EST
Where: Schuylkill forecast zone
Measured: 43 kt (49 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: State Official
Coordinates: 40.706, -76.216 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winds gusting to 50 mph knocked down trees, limbs, and power lines across Schuylkill County during the afternoon of December 23, 2022. As a result of power outages and falling temperatures, warming shelters were opened in Pottsville and Tremont.

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2022 Every state in 2022 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, December 2022

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: 1061210, 1061211, 1061214, 1061215, 1061217, 1061219, 1061220, 1061221, 1061226, 1061227, 1061231, 1061232, 1061222, 1061225, 1061228, 1061224, 1061233, 1061234, 1061229, 1061230, 1061160.