Power Outage in Allentown, PA

Power lines were downed near Neffs Laurys Rd. Time estimated from radar.

A tree was downed in the area along with a power outage. Time estimated.

Power lines were downed near Bradford St. Time estimated from radar.

Multiple reports of 40 to 50 mph sustained winds were received including at Lehigh Valley International Airport (KABE). This led to multiple reports of downed trees and power lines.

Downed trees and power lines near Sour Apple Lane near Summit Lawn. Time estimated from radar.

Downed trees and power lines near Congress Street near Trexler Park. Time estimated from radar.

Freezing rain fell, with ice accretion of up to 0.50 inches reported in Center Valley. Tree and power line damage was reported.

A tree was downed on wires with power outages in the area. Time estimated from radar.

Several reports were received of trees down between New Tripoli and Schnecksville. Downed trees and power lines blocked several roads. Time estimated from radar.

Photo of a large tree down on a fence and power lines. Time estimated from radar.

Numerous trees and power lines were downed in the area of Susquehanna St with a few roads blocked. Time estimated from radar.

Power lines came down near the intersection of Old Bethlehem Pike and Saucon Drive. Time estimated from radar.

Power lines down on PA-309 near Schnecksville. Tree down on power lines on Levans Road near North Whitehall Twp. Tree down on power lines on Chestnut Hill Church Road near Zionsville.

Strong northwest winds with gusts to over 50 MPH occurred on March 2nd and 3rd. This led to widespread damage to trees and power lines, which in turn induced extensive power outages across the region. At one point more than 13,000 customers were without power in Lehigh County. A roof was blown off a business in west Allentown. The entrance sign to the Lehigh Valley Zoo in North Whitehall Township was completely destroyed. A wind gust of 60 MPH was reported at Lehigh Valley International Airport 1720EST on March 2nd. Heavy rainfall occurred over eastern Pennsylvania on March 1st and 2nd, with widespread rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches. Areal and minor small stream flooding occurred.

Several power poles downed due to thunderstorm winds.

Several reports of downed power lines, poles and trees along with roof damage due to thunderstorm winds.

A strong microburst caused wind damage in Whitehall Township in and near the Stiles section of the township. Because of the wind damage, a township state of emergency was declared. Numerous trees were knocked down and many roads were impassable due to the downed trees. The downed trees damaged twenty-nine homes and buildings. One building sustained major damage. The township advised residents to stay off the roads. Around 600 Pennsylvania, Power and Light customers within the township were still without power late in the evening on the 30th. Some of the most significant crop damage occurred along Columbia Street where large sections of corn fields were flattened.

A severe thunderstorm also knocked down numerous trees and wires in South Whitehall Township and caused power outages. A wind gust of 56 mph was measured at nearby Lehigh Valley International Airport.

A squall line of severe thunderstorms knocked down numerous trees and wires mainly across the northern half of Lehigh County. In North Whitehall Township, a back-up generator started a house fire. Wind gusts of 56 mph and 47 mph were measured within Allentown and at the Lehigh Valley International Airport respectively. The combination of damaging winds and lightning caused about 6,500 homes and businesses to lose power in the Lehigh Valley. It took until the night of the 10th to have power fully restored.

A squall line of severe thunderstorms knocked down numerous trees and wires mainly across the northern half of Lehigh County. In North Whitehall Township, a back-up generator started a house fire. Wind gusts of 56 mph and 47 mph were measured within Allentown and at the Lehigh Valley International Airport respectively. The combination of damaging winds and lightning caused about 6,500 homes and businesses to lose power in the Lehigh Valley. It took until the night of the 10th to have power fully restored.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down a few trees and wires within Allentown. A trained Skywarn spotter measured a wind gust of 54 mph in the south side of the city. The greatest number of power outages within Lehigh County was in Salisbury Township, just south of Allentown.

A severe thunderstorm produced a 59 mph wind gust at the Lehigh Valley International Airport. About 1,000 homes and businesses lost power in Lehigh County.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down a few trees and power lines in Washington Township in and around Old Post Road. One man's head was injured when part of a tree fell on him. Chainsaws were needed to remove the downed trees from the roadway.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down numerous trees and power lines in Coopersburg. About ten homes were damaged by fallen trees. Pennsylvania State Route 2045 was closed in both directions because of downed trees. No injuries were reported.

A severe thunderstorm also knocked down a few large tree limbs and wires within the city of Allentown. About 500 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers lost power in the city.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down a few large tree limbs and wires South Whitehall Township. About 1,287 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers lost power in the township. The number dropped to 300 by Midnight EDT that night.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down numerous trees and tree limbs in eastern Lehigh County from Coplay Borough and Whitehall and South Whitehall Townships southward into Allentown. A concentration of downed trees was reported near the Whitehall High School. Four homes were damaged by downed trees in Whitehall Township and one in Coplay Borough. Trees were knocked down along Cedar Crest Boulevard in South Whitehall Township. In North Catasauqua, numerous large limbs were knocked down within the borough park. Tree damage occurred on the property of Saint Andrew's Roman Catholic Church and a roadway sign was flipped along Grove Street. About 2,900 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers lost power in the county.

A power surge from a lightning strike caused the Best Western Plus Allentown Inn to be closed until August 19th. The lightning strike caused the water heaters to malfunction which led to a small gas leak. Guests were relocated to other hotels and no injuries were reported.

A line of severe thunderstorms knocked down a few trees in Whitehall Township and Allentown. About 1,000 homes and businesses lost power throughout Lehigh County.

A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust of 69 mph at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and knocked down trees within Allentown. The combination of damaging wind and lightning caused about 15,000 homes and businesses to lose power, in the Lehigh Valley, 10,000 of the outages were in Lehigh County.

A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust of 69 mph at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and knocked down trees within Allentown. The combination of damaging wind and lightning caused about 15,000 homes and businesses to lose power, in the Lehigh Valley, 10,000 of the outages were in Lehigh County.

A severe thunderstorm downed a few trees in Lehigh County, mainly within Allentown. About 250 homes and businesses lost power.

Freezing rain overspread the area during the early evening hours of the 6th and mixed with some sleet initially. Ice accumulated up to 0.20 inches, which caused pockets of power outages and also produced areas of slippery conditions.

An EF1 tornado with maximum wind gusts of about 95 mph touched down in East Allentown. The tornado damaged about 50 homes and the Louis E. Dieruff High School which was closed until September 10th. About 100 trees were damaged or destroyed. The tornado touched down between North Ortt Street and East Cedar Street behind the Lehigh Valley Christian High School on Oswego Street. It proceeded to move west paralleling East Cedar Street and reached its maximum strength around North Kearney Street where EF1 damage started. The high school was within the path of the strongest part of the tornado. The tornado started to weaken just before it crossed North Irving Street and lifted around North Hart Street. ||Homes were hardest hit near the intersection of East Cedar and Kiowa Streets. Several roofs were damaged; shingles were pulled from other homes. Part of a roof was torn away from a home on North Irving Street. Along the path of the tornado siding was torn from a few other homes and power lines were pulled down in addition to the tree damage. The greatest destruction occurred on the grounds of the Louis E. Dieruff High School. The tornado peeled away a section of the high school's roof near the planetarium. This allowed the heavy rain to cause water damage to seventeen classrooms and a couple of hundred lockers. Ventilation units located on the roof were wrenched away. About twenty-five trees on the high school grounds were knocked down; the limbs damaged several school windows. Repairs to the high school were not expected to be completed until the middle of November.| |The tornado path length was about 0.6 of a mile and its maximum path width was about 30 yards. No injuries were reported.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down a few trees and wires across eastern Lehigh County from Coplay Borough south. In Lower Saucon Township on Seidersville Road, a downed tree limb that tore down a wire caught on fire. About 140 homes and businesses lost power in the township.

A severe thunderstorm tore down a few trees and wires in Upper Saucon Township. The combination of winds and lightning caused about 9,000 homes and businesses to lose power in Lehigh County. All power was restored by 7 a.m. EDT the following morning.

A severe thunderstorm tore down trees and wires across eastern Lehigh County from Catasauqua south through Allentown. In Allentown, trees were downed from 21st through 23rd Street from Greenleaf Street to Pennsylvania Street. A few homes suffered minor damage. In South Whitehall Township, Cedar Crest Boulevard was closed through the 11th for the replacement of a pole that was damaged by the storm. Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 14,000 homes and businesses lost power in Lehigh County while Metropolitan Edison reported about 12,000 homes and businesses lost power in their service area including Lehigh County. All power was restored by the evening of the 11th.

A squall line of severe thunderstorms tore down numerous trees throughout Lehigh County. Some roofs within the county were damaged. wind damage was reported in Allentown, Catasauqua, Centronia, East Salisbury, Fogelsville, Lower Macungie, Salisbury, South Whitehall, Trexlertown and West Salisbury. The county opened two warming centers because of the power outages.

A squall line of severe thunderstorms tore down numerous trees throughout Lehigh County. Some roofs within the county were damaged. wind damage was reported in Allentown, Catasauqua, Centronia, East Salisbury, Fogelsville, Lower Macungie, Salisbury, South Whitehall, Trexlertown and West Salisbury. The county opened two warming centers because of the power outages.

A line of severe thunderstorms knocked down several trees and wires throughout Lehigh County. In Allentown, a sign was blown off a Dollar General store and struck and injured a 30-year-old passerby. In Washington Township, greater than 100-year-old trees were knocked down. The combination of high winds and the severe thunderstorms caused about 65,500 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers to lose power throughout its eastern Pennsylvania service area including Lehigh County. About 11,000 of its customers were still without power on the 2nd. The last 100 in Lehigh County had power restored on the 3rd.

A line of severe thunderstorms knocked down several trees and wires throughout Lehigh County. In Allentown, a sign was blown off a Dollar General store and struck and injured a 30-year-old passerby. In Washington Township, greater than 100-year-old trees were knocked down. The combination of high winds and the severe thunderstorms caused about 65,500 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers to lose power throughout its eastern Pennsylvania service area including Lehigh County. About 11,000 of its customers were still without power on the 2nd. The last 100 in Lehigh County had power restored on the 3rd.

A complex weather system brought precipitation to the mid-Atlantic on March 12. Strengthening low pressure tracked from the Southeast US to just off the mid-Atlantic coast, and began to rapidly intensify as it departed towards New England. Unseasonably warm air ahead of the system and its close proximity to the coast caused precipitation to start as rain. However, as the low deepened and as winds shifted to a northwest direction, colder air began to invade, and rain gradually changed to snow from west to east. In some areas, precipitation remained steady to heavy for a few hours after the changeover, allowing several inches of snow to accumulate. Dropping temperatures also led to instances of flash freezing. With the storm rapidly deepening as it moved by and away from the area, winds also increased, exacerbating impacts caused by the wet snow and leading to scattered power outages. More tranquil conditions returned to the region by March 13.

High winds occurred across Eastern Pennsylvania as the pressure gradient tightened behind a frontal system. Over-sized vehicles were banned on several roads. Several hundred power outages were reported.

A weak trough of low pressure moved through the region which led to the development of showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms became severe and produced heavy rainfall. Power was knocked off due to thunderstorms for over 5,000 people in the Allentown area.

A cold front and associated pre-frontal trough lead to the development of thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening hours. Some of the thunderstorms became severe with damaging winds. The thunderstorms also knocked out power to thousands of people.

A cold front moving into an unstable air mass over eastern Pennsylvania set off numerous showers and thunderstorms during the late afternoon hours on the 5th. Lightning with these thunderstorms was somewhat limited, so straight-line winds and heavy downpours were the major threat as these storms moved through the area. 10,000 PECO customers lost power during the storm. Also several events were canceled such as the Governors Ball Music Festival, a NASCAR race and the Death Cab for Cutie.

A vigorous upper level low pressure system tracked across the region bringing a chilly airmass into the region. temperatures were cold enough for snow to fall across most of eastern Pennsylvania during the day on the 9th. Accumulations of snow were mainly an inch or two where it fell hard enough to accumulate on grass. Localized amounts up to 5 inches were reported. Highest snowfall total, county-by-county, were: 2.0 inches in Seisholtzville (Berks County), 0.6 inches in West Rockhill Township (Bucks), 2.0 inches in Lake Harmony (Carbon), 5.0 inches in Malvern (Chester), 4.7 inches in Wayne (Delaware County), 3.5 inches in Salisbury Township (Lehigh), 1.0 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe), 2.0 inches in Graterford (Montgomery), and 0.4 inches at Philadelphia International Airport.||Cold air behind the departing low pressure system brought minimum temperatures down to the low to mid 20s by Sunday morning, April 10th. The lowest temperature recorded at various locations were: 20 degrees F in Mount Pocono (Monroe), 26 degrees at Lehigh Valley International Airport (Northampton), 25 degrees in Reading (Berks), 25 degrees in Pottstown (Montgomery), 25 degrees in Doylestown (Bucks), and 31 degrees in Philadelphia. Given the early start of the growing season due to warmer-than-normal temperatures the previous month, unprotected plants were subject to a hard freeze.||A few power outages were reported in Northampton County from this event as well.

An impulse from the west coast traversed the midsection of the country, then developed into a low pressure system as it tracked across the Gulf states before intensifying along the Carolina coast into a major nor'easter, producing record snowfall in eastern Pennsylvania from late January 22nd into early January 24th. It then moved out to sea after passing by the mid-Atlantic coast early on January 24th. ||Snow began falling during the Friday afternoon commute on January 22nd, then continued, heavy at times, Friday night into early Sunday morning. Wind gusts over 35 MPH produced blizzard conditions as visibilities dropped to one-quarter mile or less in spots. Some representative snowfall totals include: 33.5 inches in Laureldale (Berks County), 30.0 inches in Perkasie (Bucks), 23.0 in Furlong (Bucks), 18 inches near Palmerton (Carbon), 30.1 inches in Malvern (Chester), 22 inches in Bromall (Delaware), 32.0 inches in Center Valley (Lehigh), 17.5 inches in Stroudsburg (Monroe), 31.0 inches in Eagleville (Montgomery), 31.1 inches in Forks Township (Northampton), and 22.3 inches at Fire Station 78 in Philadelphia. ||This storm set several new snowfall records at Allentown. A total of 30.2 inches of snow fell at the Lehigh Valley International Airport on the 23rd, establishing a new record for the date. The previous record daily maximum snowfall for January 23rd was 7.7 inches set in 1966. It was the greatest calendar day snowfall at Allentown, replacing the 24.0 inches that fell on February 11, 1983. The two-day total for this storm was 31.9 inches at Allentown, which is a new record as well. The previous record two-day snowfall total was 25.6 inches set on January 7 and 8, 1996. Allentown's normal seasonal snowfall of 32.9 inches was almost exceeded by this one storm. Also, the liquid equivalent precipitation total at the Lehigh Valley International Airport was 1.65 inches on January 23rd, establishing a new record for the date. The previous record daily precipitation total for January 23rd was 1.39 inches set in 1983. ||A total of 19.4 inches of snow fell at the Philadelphia International Airport on January 23rd, establishing a new record for the date. The previous record daily maximum snowfall for January 23rd was 11.9 inches set in 1935. It was the 5th greatest calendar day snowfall at Philadelphia with the top spot being held by the 27.6 inches of snow that fell on January 7, 1996. The two-day total for this storm was 22.4 inches at Philadelphia, which is exactly equal to the city's normal snowfall for the entire season. The two-day storm total of 22.4 inches was the 4th greatest on record for Philadelphia dating back to the 1870s. The greatest two-day total on record is 30.7 inches on January 7-8, 1996. ||Power outages were minimal during this event, in part due to the strong winds which prevented snow from accumulating on trees and wires, but not so strong as to knock them down. Philadelphia Electric Company reported only 140 customers in the five-county southeast Pennsylvania region without power on Saturday. Numerous stranded vehicles were reported throughout eastern Pennsylvania because of poor driving conditions produced by heavy snow. In Montgomery County alone, more than 300 stranded-vehicle calls came into the 911 center from Friday night into Saturday afternoon. Snow removal costs totaled from $300-500 K in the city of Bethlehem. In Philadelphia, the total cost for snow removal was over $7 million. ||Five deaths were reported in eastern Pennsylvania as a result of this blizzard. A 55-year-old Allentown man was found unconscious in his car on Sunday, January 24th after being overcome by exhaust fumes, and died the following Tuesday from related complications. A 54-year-old Allentown man collapsed from a heart attack Saturday night, January 23rd while shoveling snow. A 56-year-old Muhlenburg Township (Berks County) man died from carbon monoxide poisoning after his idling car was buried in snow from a passing plow on Saturday evening, January 24th. An 18-year-old Pottstown (Montgomery County) woman died on Sunday, January 25th after shoveling snow. Finally, an 88-year-old Lower Providence Township (Montgomery County) man died on Saturday, January 24th after shoveling snow. ||Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf declared a State of Emergency on Thursday, January 21st for the duration of the event. Schools and many businesses recessed early on Friday afternoon in anticipation of the storm. Philadelphia International Airport canceled all Saturday flights, and 155 departures and 133 arrivals scheduled for Sunday. Governor Wolf stated the costs to the state were over $55 million and he has requested Federal Disaster Assistance. On March 23, 2016, President Obama declared the following counties federal disaster areas: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Philadelphia. This declaration makes federal funding available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation and snow assistance for a continuous 480hour period during the storm.

A mixture of frozen precipitation occurred from the evening of the 28th into the morning of the 29th over the higher terrain of the Poconos and also into portions of the Lehigh Valley. Some slippery conditions and traveling difficulties were reported in portions of Carbon, Monroe, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties as a result of a combination of sleet, freezing rain, and some snow that fell across the area before warmer air arrived and changed all precipitation over to rain by mid to late morning on the 29th. ||The mixture of frozen precipitation was caused in part by a low pressure system that tracked from the mid-Mississippi Valley on the afternoon of the 28th to the Great Lakes by the morning of the 29th. Its associated warm front lifted north toward Pennsylvania and gradually began to dislodge cold air at the surface that had been in place as a result of strong Canadian high pressure extending down across the northern Mid-Atlantic states. While some snow did occur, most of the frozen precipitation was in the form of sleet and then freezing rain as a warm layer of air expanded aloft and cold, sub-freezing air gradually eroded away at the surface. By mid to late morning on the 29th, surface temperatures were above freezing and precipitation had transitioned to rain. ||Storm total snow and sleet amounts included 1.1 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County); 0.8 inches in Stroudsburg, Mount Pocono, and Canadensis (Monroe County); 0.6 inches in Albrightsville (Carbon County) and in Pocono Summit (Monroe County) and also in Bangor (Northampton County); 0.5 inches in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County); 0.3 inches in Martins Creek (Northampton County); 0.2 inches in Forks Township (Northampton County); and a trace recorded at the Lehigh Valley International Airport (Lehigh County).||Storm total ice accretion as a result of freezing rain included 0.25 inches in Albrightsville and Summit Hill (Carbon County) and also in Cresco (Monroe County), 0.19 inches at the Pocono Mountains Municipal Airport (Monroe County), and a trace of freezing rain recorded in Stroudsburg (Monroe County). In addition to these measurements, there were also several reports of trees and wires down in Carbon and Monroe Counties where the sleet and freezing rain lasted the longest. A couple of trees were reported down in the following towns in Carbon County: Lansford, Jim Thorpe, Weatherly, and Nesquehoning. In addition, an electric powerline was reported down at the Penn Forest Reservoir in Carbon County, and one downed tree was reported in Tobyhanna (Monroe County).

Strong to severe thunderstorms that produced damaging winds, large hail and a tornado affected Eastern Pennsylvania from the middle of the afternoon into the early evening on the 30th. Hardest hit were the Lehigh Valley which experienced a strong microburst and Chester County which experienced a tornado. A state of emergency was declared in Whitehall Township (Lehigh County). Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 11,000 of its customers lost power in the Lehigh Valley. Hardest hit by power outages included Whitehall and Catasauqua in Lehigh County and Hanover Township east through Lower Nazareth Township in Northampton County. First Energy reported 4,000 of its customers lost power in Northampton County. Power was not fully restored until the night of July 1st. Heavy rain also caused some flash flooding in the Lehigh Valley and Poconos. The most severe thunderstorms formed near a warm frontal boundary that slowly lifted northeast on the 30th.

A lee side trough preceding a cold front combined with an unseasonably hot and humid air mass to trigger scattered strong to locally severe thunderstorms in eastern Pennsylvania during the late afternoon and early evening of the 12th. The severe thunderstorms in the Lehigh Valley caused about 2,000 homes and businesses to lose power.

A lee side trough helped trigger a line of strong to locally severe thunderstorms that moved through Eastern Pennsylvania during the late afternoon and early evening of the 8th. The strongest (severe) thunderstorms affected parts of Berks County and the western Lehigh Valley. The most concentrated power outages occurred in southern Lehigh County.

An approaching cold front helped trigger some strong to locally severe thunderstorms across Eastern Pennsylvania during the afternoon of the 13th. Hardest hit was Berks and the Lehigh Valley where the combination of damaging winds, lightning and flooding caused more than 6,800 homes and businesses to lose power. In addition, a couple of homes were struck and damaged by lightning.

A strong cold front with shearing winds above the surface triggered supercell type thunderstorms that occurred across Eastern Pennsylvania mainly during the afternoon of the 22nd. Hail as large as tennis balls caused crop, siding and automobile damage and even damaged a Berks County mall. A U.S. Airways jet landed with a cracked windshield caused by large hail at Philadelphia International Airport. The adverse late afternoon weather prevented takeoffs from Philadelphia International Airport until 630 p.m. EDT that evening. There was also some damaging winds, but was not as widespread as the large hail. Nearly 1,000 homes and businesses lost power in Berks County. No serious injuries were reported.

A strong cold front produced a convective line of showers and scattered thunderstorms with damaging winds that moved through Eastern Pennsylvania during the morning of the 1st. About 25,000 homes and businesses lost power, with the greatest concentration in Montgomery, Berks, Lehigh and Monroe Counties. Most of the power was restored by that afternoon. The adverse weather caused arrival delays of two hours at the Philadelphia International Airport. The SEPTA Commuter Regional Rail Airport Line had service suspended until 11 a.m. EDT that morning because of power problems.

A squall line of strong to severe thunderstorms preceded a cold frontal passage during the late morning and first half of the afternoon in Eastern Pennsylvania. The strong southerly flow preceding the squall line knocked down a tree in Reading (Berks County). The tree fell along North Fourth Street and damaged a home and a non functioning streetlight. About 25 Metropolitan Edison customers lost power because of the downed tree. The same strong southerly flow preceding this front coincided with the spring tides associated with the new moon to produce some minor tidal flooding along the tidal Delaware River during the afternoon high tide cycle on the 7th. High tide reached 8.40 feet above mean lower low water in Philadelphia, minor tidal flooding starts at 8.20 feet above mean lower low water.

A strong cold front helped trigger a series of thunderstorms across Eastern Pennsylvania on the 12th. A line of strong to severe thunderstorms that moved through the area during the late afternoon and early evening on the 12th caused the majority of the wind and lightning damage. About 3,000 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers lost power in the Lehigh Valley.

An unseasonably warm air mass just south of a slowly moving cold front combined to produce strong to severe thunderstorms mainly across the Poconos and Lehigh Valley during the late afternoon and early evening of the 10th. The severe thunderstorms that did occur produced both large hail and damaging winds. About 400 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers lost power.

Strong west to northwest winds occurred across the Lehigh Valley and Poconos during and for several hours after a cold frontal passage around the mid day hours of the 20th. Peak wind gusts average around 50 mph and knocked down weak tree limbs and power lines and caused isolated outages. Peak wind gusts included 52 mph at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and 51 mph in Mount Pocono (Monroe County).

A line of strong to widely scattered severe thunderstorms preceding a cold front moved through Eastern Pennsylvania during the late afternoon on the 8th. The most concentrated wind damage occurred in Lehigh and Bucks Counties. Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 3,500 of its customers lost power.

A complex of strong to severe thunderstorms moved through the Poconos, Lehigh Valley and northern Philadelphia suburbs during the late afternoon and early evening on the 7th. This complex was fueled by high temperatures that reached as high as around 100F and triggered by an approaching cold front. Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 67,500 of its customers lost power. It took until July 10th for full restoration. Later that evening, an isolated severe thunderstorm occurred in Chester County.

A squall line that preceded a cold front produced strong to locally severe thunderstorms in Eastern Pennsylvania during the evening of the 29th. The worst reported wind damage was in the Lehigh Valley where approximately 3,200 homes and businesses lost power. Power was not fully restored until the 30th in Lehigh County and the 31st in Northampton County.

A slow moving cold front helped trigger numerous strong to severe thunderstorms during the second half of the afternoon through the evening of the 7th throughout Eastern Pennsylvania. Hardest hit was Monroe County where 30,000 people lost power from the combination of damaging winds and lightning.

A lee side trough helped trigger a line of strong to severe thunderstorms that moved through Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos during the evening of the 26th. About 25,000 homes and businesses lost power in the area. All power was restored by the evening of the 28th, with the latest restoration in northern Berks County.

A protracted winter storm dropped several inches of sleet and snow in the Poconos and included a long period of freezing rain that produced ice accretions of up to half an inch in the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia suburbs. The ice tore down numerous tree limbs, trees and subsequently wires. Many trees still had snow on them from the winter storm of the previous week to exacerbate the damage. Nearly 300,000 power outages occurred. PECO Energy reported about 185,000 of its southeastern Pennsylvania customers lost power. Power was not completely restored to the last few until the afternoon of the 6th. Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 79,000 of their customers lost power in Eastern and Central Pennsylvania; while Metropolitan Edison reported around 14,000 of its customers lost power in Berks County. Numerous schools cancelled classes on both the 1st and 2nd. Recycling and garbage pick-ups were delayed. This winter storm added additional strains to snow removal budgets and tight salt supplies.| |In Northampton County in the Lehigh Valley, numerous crashes occurred on U.S. Route 22, Pennsylvania State Route 33 and Interstate 78. On Interstate 78, a driver swerved to avoid hitting a plow truck and was injured. In Bethlehem, a driver was injured after his vehicle flipped on Schoenersville Road. Also in Bethlehem, a 100 foot section of a porch roof collapsed on the evening of the 2nd on Glendale Avenue from the weight of ice and snow. Three vehicles were damaged. In Berks County, Pennsylvania State Routes 345 (near Birdsboro) and 625 (south of Reading) were closed. Reading, Hamburg, Boyertown, Birdsboro, Barto, Bechtelsville and Douglassville all suffered power outages. In Bucks County, downed wires in Milford caused a basement fire in one home on Sleepy Hollow Road. In Montgomery County, the worst reported tree and ice damage occurred in Lansdale and Hatfield. A utility pole fire in Pottstown knocked out power to the borough's water treatment plant. In Chester County, there were several slip and fall injuries reported, mainly on the 1st. Just east of Exton, Northbound U.S. Route 202 was closed between Pennsylvania State Routes 30 and 401 because of an accident with injuries on the 2nd. Two roadways were closed because of downed trees and wires in North Coventry Township. One roadway was also closed in West Vincent Township. A downed tree damaged a home in West Goshen. There were over 100 reports of downed wires throughout the county. ||Precipitation started as snow across the region during the early morning of the 1st. As warmer air moved in aloft, the precipitation changed to sleet and freezing rain by the morning rush in the local Philadelphia area, a mixture of sleet and freezing rain by the end of the morning commute in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley and a wintry mix late in the morning in the Poconos. Precipitation tapered off to mainly freezing drizzle during the afternoon and early evening of the 1st. Heavier precipitation moved in again during the evening of the 1st and fell as freezing rain in the Philadelphia suburbs, a mixture of sleet and freezing rain in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley and mainly a snow and sleet mixture in the Poconos. Overnight colder air moved in aloft in over the Poconos and precipitation changed back to all snow for a few hours. Toward sunrise on the 2nd, this process started to reverse at both the surface and aloft. Warmer air was moving north again and the freezing rain changed to plain rain across the Philadelphia suburbs and Berks County around 8 a.m. EST and the Lehigh Valley around 9 a.m. EST. In the Poconos, precipitation changed to freezing rain around 7 a.m. EST and ended as freezing rain around 11 a.m. EST on the 2nd.||Representative snow and sleet accumulations included 5.4 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 5.0 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County), 3.5 inches in Delaware Water Gap (Monroe County), 2.1 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 1.5 inches in Albrightsville (Carbon County) and 1.0 inch in Easton and Martins Creek (Northampton County). Representative ice accretions included 0.50 inches in Glenmoore (Chester County), Sping Mount (Montgomery County) and Emmaus (Lehigh County), 0.40 inches in East Nantmeal (Chester County) and Lansdale (Montgomery County), 0.38 inches in Kutztown (Berks County) and Allentown (Lehigh County), 0.33 inches in Feasterville (Bucks County) and 0.25 inches in Bangor (Northampton County). ||The protracted precipitation event was caused by a pair of low pressure systems. The first low pressure system moved into the upper Ohio River Valley on the morning of the 1st and then weakened during the day. The second and more stronger low pressure system moved northeast from the lower Mississippi Valley during the early afternoon of the 1st into the lower Ohio River Valley during the early evening of the 1st. It continued to move northeast through the Ohio River Valley overnight and reached northwest Pennsylvania at 7 a.m. EST on the 2nd. At the same time, a high pressure system slid across southern Canada and kept a fresh supply of cold air at and near the surface. This considerably slowed the progression of warmer air in Pennsylvania. A secondary low pressure system formed on the low's warm front over the Delmarva Peninsula that morning and moved off the New Jersey coast during the late morning. The offshore passage of this low pressure system ended the precipitation associated with this event.

A winter storm brought heavy snow and freezing rain to the Poconos and an accumulating snow to the Lehigh Valley before it changed to sleet and then rain. Accumulations averaged around 6 inches in the Poconos, 2 to 6 inches in the Lehigh Valley and around an inch in the northern Philadelphia suburbs and Berks County. Ice accretions in the higher terrain of the Poconos averaged around one-third of an inch. ||Snow began during the late evening of the 8th as far south as the northern Philadelphia suburbs and Berks County. As warmer air moved north, the snow changed to rain by around 3 a.m. EST in the northern Philadelphia suburbs and Berks County and around 4 a.m. EST in the Lehigh Valley. During the transition in the Lehigh Valley, some sleet occurred. The snow changed to rain in the valleys and freezing rain in the higher terrain of the Poconos around 6 a.m. EST. In the higher terrain of the Poconos, precipitation changed to all rain around 9 a.m. EST. The rain ended by Noon EST on the 9th.||Schools were closed in Monroe County. Most schools had two hour delayed openings in Carbon County and the Lehigh Valley. The heavy wet snow caused spotty power outages in Carbon County.||Specific snowfall included 7.0 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 6.0 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County), 5.7 inches in Glendon (Northampton County), 5.0 inches in Lake Harmony (Carbon County), 4.9 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County), 3.0 inches in Springtown (Bucks County), 2.9 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 1.5 inches in Tatamy (Northampton County), 0.6 inches in Glenmoore (Chester County), 0.5 inches in Hamburg (Berks County) and 0.4 inches in Fleetwood (Berks County). Ice accretions in the Poconos were less than one quarter of an inch.||The winter storm was caused by a strong surge of relatively warmer and more moist air above a surface warm front associated with an intense low pressure system that moved through the Great Lakes. A weaker low pressure system formed on the warm frontal boundary early in the morning of the 9th near the Virginia and North Carolina border. This slowed the advance of milder air into the higher terrain locations.

A winter storm affected most of Eastern Pennsylvania on the 19th. Mainly ice fell in the Philadelphia northern suburbs, a wintry mix fell in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley and mainly snow fell in the Poconos. Accumulations ranged from less than one inch in the Philadelphia northern suburbs to around eight inches in the Poconos. Ice accretions averaged between two-tenths and four-tenths of an inch in the Philadelphia northern suburbs and the Lehigh Valley.||Precipitation started on the morning of the 19th as snow in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos and as a mixture of sleet and freezing rain in Berks County and the Philadelphia northern suburbs. As warmer air moved in aloft, precipitation changed to all freezing rain in Berks County and the Philadelphia northern suburbs that morning. Precipitation changed to sleet and then freezing rain during the afternoon of the 19th in the Lehigh Valley. Some sleet mixed in with the snow during the evening of the 19th in the Poconos. Near the city of Philadelphia and in Chester and Berks Counties, surface temperatures rose above freezing during the afternoon of the 19th. Elsewhere, temperatures remained below freezing until the event ended. Precipitation ended during the early evening in the Philadelphia northern suburbs, in the middle of the evening in the Lehigh Valley and toward Midnight EST in the Poconos. ||Many accidents occurred because of the wintry precipitation. An 18-year-old man died after a vehicle he was a passenger in spun out of control and was struck by an eastbound heading truck on Interstate 78 near the Berks and Lehigh County line in Greenwich Township (Berks County). Traffic on the interstate was backed up for four hours. Elsewhere in Greenwich Township, Pennsylvania State Route 737 was closed for nearly an hour after a head-on collision. In Northampton County, Northbound Pennsylvania State Route 33 was closed at Pennsylvania State Route 512 for several hours during the middle of the day because trucks could not get up the hill. There were about 50 crashes reported in the county; fifteen occurred during the first half hour of snow. A couple of crashes that resulted in injuries included A LANTA bus that collided with a car in the College Hill section of Easton and a vehicle that crashed on the Fahy Bridge in Bethlehem. Five flights were cancelled because of the weather at the Lehigh Valley International Airport.||In the Poconos, in Monroe County in Middle Smithfield Township, a driver lost his thumb after he slid off a road into a pond. A woman's SUV flipped over on Interstate 80. In Carbon County, vehicles became stuck in the snow in Summit Hill, Lehighton, Jim Thorpe, Franklin and Kidder Townships. Schools were closed and the county courthouse closed at Noon. About 2,000 homes and businesses in the county lost power. In the Philadelphia northern suburbs, Bucks County was hit the hardest. Several trees and power lines were knocked down because of the ice accretion in Warminster and Solebury Townships. About 2,000 homes and businesses lost power. A downed tree also closed U.S. Route 202 in Solebury Township. A man was injured after his van slid off of Interstate 95, down an embankment and into a stream. This accident occurred just north of the Yardley and New Hope exit. ||Specific accumulations included 8.9 inches in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 8.5 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 6.5 inches in Albrightsville (Carbon County), 4.9 inches in Martins Creek (Northampton County), 4.5 inches in Easton (Northampton County), 3.5 inches in Slatington (Lehigh County), 3.0 inches in Springfield (Bucks County), 2.8 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 1.1 inches in Perkasie (Bucks County) and 0.3 inches in Skippack (Montgomery County). ||The winter storm was caused by a low pressure system that moved from the central Rockies on the morning of the 18th east to Illinois on the morning of the 19th. The low pressure system reached the western Pennsylvania border early in the afternoon on the 19th. A secondary low pressure system then formed on its warm front in Delmarva and by early in the evening on the 19th became the main low pressure system. At that time it was already racing quickly east of the New Jersey coast. Of equal importance was a high pressure system that shadowed the low as it moved across the southern tier of Canada. It provided a fresh supply of cold air and assisted in having more precipitation fall as not plain rain.

A wintry mix of precipitation affected most of Eastern Pennsylvania (except for right around Philadelphia) from the morning of the 16th into the morning of the 17th. In spite of nearly twenty-four hours of precipitation, the intensity was mainly light. About 1 to 3 inches of snow accumulated before precipitation changed to freezing rain with ice accretions that averaged around two-tenths of an inch. ||Across Philadelphia and the nearby suburbs precipitation started as light rain on the morning of the 16th. As the intensity increased, precipitation changed over to snow by Noon EST in the northwest Philadelphia suburbs. As warmer air moved in aloft, the snow changed over to freezing rain during the evening of the 16th and continued overnight. Precipitation changed over to plain rain just as it was ending. Across Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos precipitation started as snow from around Noon EST in Berks County, during the late afternoon in the Lehigh Valley and the early evening in the Poconos. As warmer air moved in aloft, the snow changed over to sleet briefly and then freezing rain during the late evening of the 16th and continued overnight. The freezing rain ended between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. EST on the morning of the 17th. ||The wintry mix caused numerous accidents and made traveling home difficult during the evening commute. Vehicles slid off roads, into each other and into ditches. Many after school activities were cancelled. Some schools even had delayed openings the morning of the 17th. In Berks County, minor accidents occurred on Pennsylvania State Routes 183, 501, 645 and Old U.S. Route 22 in northern Berks County. Pennsylvania State Route 183 was closed. In Lower Heidelberg Township, the Rebers Bridge Road was closed. In Bucks County, Pennsylvania State Route 313 was closed in Dublin after a two vehicle accident with injuries. A roadway in Solebury Township was also closed. Accidents were reported Hilltown, New Britain, Plumstead, Solebury, Doylestown, Dublin, Buckingham and Richland. In Montgomery County, about 1,000 homes and businesses lost power in and around the Pottstown area. In Chester County, after the precipitation ended a large tree limb fell down and took down wires on Pennsylvania State Route 724 in North Coventry Township. ||Actual snow accumulations included 3.3 inches in Longswamp (Berks County), 3.1 inches in Lincoln Park (Berks County), 2.5 inches in Perkiomenville (Montgomery County), 2.2 inches in Perkasie (Bucks County), 2.1 inches in Forks Township (Northampton County), 2.0 inches in Schnecksville (Lehigh County) and Easton (Northampton County), 1.5 inches in East Nantmeal (Chester County), 1.2 inches in Jim Thorpe (Carbon County), 1.1 inches in Doylestown (Berks County), Royersford (Montgomery County) and the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 1.0 inch in Downingtown (Chester County) and 0.5 inches in Drexel Hill (Delaware County).||The wintry mix of precipitation was caused by a low pressure system that developed on a cold front in the Gulf Coast States on the morning of the 16th. It moved northnortheast and reached the Tennessee Valley early in the evening on the 16th and northeast Ohio at 1 a.m. EST on the 17th. The low pressure system then moved into the Great Lakes around sunrise on the 17th as a secondary low pressure system was forming off the New Jersey coast. The secondary low slowly intensified as it moved toward Cape Cod on the 17th as the primary low weakened over the Great Lakes. An arctic high pressure system moved across New York and New England on the 16th and provided a fresh supply of cold air near the surface that prevented temperatures from rising above freezing during this event across much of Eastern Pennsylvania.

A wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain fell across most of Eastern Pennsylvania on the 1st. Sleet accumulations ranged from an inch or two in the Poconos to little if any toward Philadelphia. Ice accretions reached up to around half an inch in the Poconos. The wintry mix caused many accidents. In the Poconos, the accretion of ice on tree limbs and power lines caused scattered outages. Many schools north and west of Philadelphia were closed. ||Precipitation began as a mixture of sleet and freezing rain between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. EST across most of Eastern Pennsylvania. In the local Philadelphia area, precipitation started as plain rain. As warm air moved in northward at the surface, the freezing rain changed to plain rain in the Philadelphia northwest suburbs by 8 a.m. EST and in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley by 10 a.m. EST. Ice accretions averaged around one tenth of an inch in the Philadelphia northwest suburbs and two tenths of an inch in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley. In the Poconos, the cold air was never completely scoured and precipitation fell as freezing rain over the plateau region until it ended that evening. ||In Monroe County layers of ice burdened branches and utility wires on February 1st, which caused power outages. Wires sagged or snapped under the weight of the ice, which resulted in some pole fires during the night of February 1st. A multi-vehicle crash at the start of the evening rush hour on February 1st forced the closure of Interstate 380 south between the Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro exits. Back roads were tricky as motorists had to dodge downed branches. In Lehigh County, a hit-and-run accident occurred in Washington Township as icy road conditions resulted from freezing rain. The crash happened at 6:00 PM EST as an unknown driver was traveling west on Main Street in Slatedale and lost control of the vehicle due to icy patches on the road surface. The vehicle crashed into a building on Main Street and the driver left the scene. In Berks County 911 dispatchers handled more than two dozen calls which reported accidents between 5:30 AM EST and 8:00 AM EST, due to freezing rain icing up roadways. Many of the accidents involved vehicles sliding off icy roads into ditches or trees. There were no reports of serious injuries. Westbound traffic on Interstate 78 was blocked for about three hours near the Krumsville exit about 7:00 AM EST by a crash which involved several tractor-trailers. Eastbound Interstate 78 traffic was not moving much, because one lane was blocked during much of the morning as a result of crashes. Also, Interstate 78 was closed between the Kutztown exit 35 (Route 737) and Lenhartsville exit 40 (Route 143) for several hours because a tractor-trailer accident. It reopened around 9:30 AM EST. A multi-vehicle crash occurred at about 5:45 AM EST at Pricetown Road and Route 73 in Ruscombmanor Township. In Muhlenberg Township, Crystal Road was closed near Spring Valley Road after a four vehicle, chain reaction, crash occurred at about 6:15 AM EST. Several other vehicles slid into walls or other cars on the road. No one was injured, but the road remained closed for more than two hours because tow trucks had a difficult time getting up the hill to remove the vehicles. In Brecknock Township, a sport utility vehicle slid off Maple Grove Road near Alleghenyville Road at about 6:40 AM EST, then turned onto its side after going down a 10-foot embankment. The driver was not hurt. In Chester County the State Police barracks at Embreeville reported 23 crashes in the area between 5:00 AM EST and 9:00 AM EST though most were minor. ||The low pressure system that caused the wintry mix moved from Mississippi on the evening of January 31st northeast through the Ohio valley on the morning of the 1st. It reached western Pennsylvania during the afternoon of the 1st and passed near Scranton, Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. EST on the 1st before heading northeast into New York State. Preceding this low pressure system, a fairly strong high pressure system (around 1040 millibars) was able to leave a large pool of cold air in place at the surface across Eastern Pennsylvania that was difficult for the low pressure system to scour.

A strong area of high pressure was anchored over southeastern Canada on December 15th. This high gradually moved eastward during the day, however it wedged itself down into the Mid Atlantic region, which is known as cold air damming. Meanwhile, a storm system became more organized across the Gulf Coast states. This storm tracked northeastward from the 15th to the 16th. As the main storm tracked into Ohio on the 16th, a secondary area of low pressure developed near southern Delaware during that morning. As a result, moisture was lifted up and over colder air trapped at the surface. This produced about 1 to 4 inches of snow and sleet across portions of eastern Pennsylvania, with up to one-half of an inch of ice (from freezing rain). The storm system moved away from the area during the overnight hours of the 16th. A total of 160,000 customers in eastern Pennsylvania lost power during the storm.||Across the southern Poconos, snow and sleet accumulated about 2 to 5 inches before changing to freezing rain. Ice accumulations up to one-half inch were reported across the area. The mixed bag of precipitation created hazardous conditions on the roads, and the weight from the ice brought down some trees and power lines. Interstate 80 was closed in Carbon County between exits 274 and 277 because of downed power lines during the afternoon of the 16th which lasted until about 11 PM EST. Many schools were closed in Carbon County due to the inclement weather. Power was knocked out to about 7 PPL customers in Monroe County.||In the Lehigh Valley and Berks County, a total of 35,000 Met Ed customers lost power and around 2,500 PPL customers were without power. In Northampton County, Met Ed reported outages in Wind Gap and Easton. Of the total Met Ed customers who lost power, 13,500 were still without late on the 16th, 5,100 without during the evening of the 17th, with the last 3,250 customers on the 19th. Due to the widespread power outages in Berks County, shelters were opened in Oley, Sinking Spring and Bernville. The ice made roadways very hazardous. In Lehigh County, a 28-year old man was killed in Upper Macungie Township at 4:00 AM EST on the 16th after his car struck a tree and pole on Newtown Road. In addition, there was a report of a vehicle rollover on Interstate 78 in Williams Township (Northampton County). Businesses were closed on the 16th and some of them opened late. Increasing winds added to the number of fallen trees and resultant power outages. Dozens of downed trees along with power lines were reported across Berks County.||For the northern and western suburbs of Philadelphia, 10,000 PECO customers were without power, with 7,000 of those in Bucks County alone. PPL reported 7,300 customers were without power in Bucks and Montgomery Counties. The power was completely restored to all customers by the early evening on the 18th. Trees and power lines were downed across Chester, Montgomery and Bucks Counties with the most damage having occurred in the western/northwestern areas.||While accumulations across eastern Pennsylvania were mostly of sleet, there was some snow mixed in. These amounts include, 4.0 inches in Saylorsburg (Monroe County) and Nesquehoning (Carbon County); 3.0 inches in Albrightsville (Carbon County), Pocono Summit (Monroe County)and Snydersville (Monroe County); 2.1 inches in Marshalls Creek (Northampton County); 1.8 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and in Williams Township (Northampton County); 1.5 inches in Jim Thorpe (Carbon County) and Nazareth (Northampton County); 1.4 inches in Springtown (Bucks County); 1.2 inches in Martins Creek Northampton County); and 1.0 inch in Hamburg (Berks County) and Whitehall (Lehigh County). Some ice accumulations from freezing rain include, 0.50 of an inch in parts of Carbon County; 0.30 of an inch in Warwick (Bucks County), Slatington (Lehigh County) and Souderton (Montgomery County); 0.25 of an inch in Saylorsburg (Monroe County); 0.20 of an inch in Williams Township (Northampton County) and 0.10 of an inch in Whitehall (Lehigh County) and Berlinsville (Northampton County).||Following this winter storm, ice flying off of moving vehicles was a problem across the region. In the Lehigh Valley, a 47-year old female was injured when ice dislodged from the top of a tractor-trailer and struck her jeep on Route 22 near Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem. At 6 PM EST on the 17th, a female was traveling westbound on Interstate 78 when ice flew off a tractor-trailer and smashed her vehicles windshield. At 6 AM EST on the 17th, a male was traveling eastbound on Route 22 near Route 378 in Bethlehem when ice from a westbound truck flew off and smashed the windshield. In Upper Bern Township (Berks County) at 10:15 PM EST, a 55-year old male was traveling westbound on Interstate 78 and passed a tractor-trailer when ice flew off and broke his windshield. There were several other non-detailed incidents related to flying ice on Interstate 78. At about 12:40 AM on the 17th, a male was traveling eastbound on Route 22 near Allentown when ice flew off a westbound tractor-trailer, damaging his cars hood, grille and windshield. At about that same time, a 19-year old female was driving westbound on Route 22 in South Whitehall Township when ice from a westbound SUV hit her car. At 11:15 AM on the 19th, a 22-year old female and a 25-year old female in East Allen Township were on there way in an ambulance on Route 329 near Airport Road to pick up a sick patient when ice flew off a tractor-trailer striking the ambulance and hitting the driver in the head. The 22-year old driver suffered a concussion and back and neck pain, while the 25-year old passenger suffered cuts.

A cold front moved through the region on December 12th. Behind this front, high pressure settled into northern New England providing colder air into the region. An area of low pressure then developed along the aforementioned front across the Tennessee Valley. This storm then tracked northeastward on December 13th, spreading moisture across the entire region. This storm produced one to as much as five inches of snow and sleet across eastern Pennsylvania, however warmer air arrived well above the surface allowing freezing rain to fall for a time. Some places picked up about one-quarter of an inch of ice. The storm then moved out of the area during the first half of the night on the 13th.||In the southern Poconos, all the schools in Carbon County were closed on the 13th. Due to the slippery conditions on many of the roadways, there were some accidents, which included an overturned SUV on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 near the Water Gap. ||For the Lehigh Valley and Berks County, the combination of snow and ice caused roadways to become slippery. As a result of the inclement weather, open schools and businesses let out early on the 13th. At 2:05 PM EST, there was an indirect fatal accident on the westbound lanes of Interstate 78 in Greenwich Township (Berks County) involving two tractor-trailers and two vehicles. One of the vehicles failed to yield and caused another vehicle to strike a tractor-trailer and then spun when it was hit by another vehicle. An 83-year old female passenger in one of the vehicles was killed, and the 50-year old female driver was injured. The slippery conditions lead to several fender benders and sliding cars. In anticipation of the hazardous winter weather, many schools closed before the precipitation started. There were a number of businesses that either shut down or dismissed early, and mass transit had between 10 and 15 minute delays. Travel by air was also impacted as cancellations and delays were reported at the Lehigh Valley International Airport. There were about 160 customers without power, and power was completely restored at 3:30 AM EST on the 14th. ||For the northern and western suburbs of Philadelphia, ice built-up on trees in North Coventry (Chester County) due to freezing rain. The icing created hazardous road conditions, particularly on untreated surfaces, with traffic even stalled in some areas. The ice build-up downed some trees and trees limbs in some areas including the Phoenixville area (Chester County), and trees were completely covered in ice in the Horsham area (Montgomery County). Three school districts in Montgomery County and six in Bucks County closed early, with after school activities cancelled at several districts. In total however, some 60 schools closed early or sent students home early. An Outlet Center in Limerick (Montgomery County) lost power because of the icing. There were a total of 1,900 customers without power in Montgomery County alone, and when those outage numbers were combined with Bucks County, the number was greater than 10,000 customers. Some brief road closures were reported in parts of Bucks County because of minor accidents, including the Doylestown area and on the by-pass in Richland Township, with vehicles off the roads in Plumstead Township. Branches sagging from the weight of the ice touched power lines, which contributed to about 180 PPL customers losing power. ||Accumulations of snow, sleet along with some ice across eastern Pennsylvania included, 5.2 inches in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County); 4.0 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County); 2.0 inches in Lehighton (Monroe County); 1.2 inches at Trexlertown (Lehigh County); 1.0 inch in Hamburg (Berks County), the Lehigh Valley International Airport, New Tripoli (Lehigh County), Martins Creek (Northampton County), Tatamy (Northampton County) and Souderton (Bucks County); 0.8 of an inch in Weisenberg (Lehigh County) and Easton (Northampton County); 0.7 of an inch in Glenmoore (Chester County), Honey Brook (Chester County) and Fricks (Bucks County); 0.5 of an inch in Perkasie (Bucks County); 0.4 of an inch in Palm (Montgomery County) and 0.3 of an inch in Hatboro (Montgomery County) and Doylestown (Bucks County).||Freezing rain amounts ranged from, 0.30 of an inch in Morgantown (Berks County), West Lawn (Berks County) and Phoenixville (Chester County); 0.25 of an inch in East Nantmeal (Chester County); 0.20 of an inch in Easton (Northampton County), Coatesville (Chester County), West Brandywine (Chester County), West Grove (Chester County) and Westtown (Chester County) and 0.1 of an inch in Fricks (Bucks County), Exton (Chester County) and Royersford (Montgomery County). Some ice was reported in Warrington (Bucks County).

An area of low pressure moved from the northern Plains on November 17th toward the Mid Atlantic States on the 18th, with a warm front draped from Ohio to southern Delaware. Another area of low pressure however developed off the coast of Virginia during the 18th and then moved out to sea on the 19th and into the 20th. A surface trough however bridged the two areas of low pressure. Meanwhile, an upper-level low tracked across the upper Ohio Valley and right across Pennsylvania late on the 19th, however it was weakening with time. This brought the first widespread accumulating snowfall of the season to northeastern Pennsylvania and even to some areas a little farther south. This storm was elevation dependent to some extent, as temperatures in the lower elevations were just above freezing during most of the event. The snow that did accumulate was heavy and wet and caused nearly 13,000 homes and businesses to lose power in the Lehigh Valley (where some trees still had leaves) and the Poconos. The storm system gradually moved off to the east on the 19th, bringing an end to the widespread precipitation.||Snow began falling in the Poconos just after Midnight EST on the 18th and fell heavy at times during the evening and night. The snow ended during the early afternoon on the 19th. In the Lehigh Valley, snow began falling around 7 a.m. EST on the 18th, but did not accumulate as efficiently as the Poconos as temperatures were at or above freezing. Most of the accumulating snow was over by sunrise on the 19th, but the snow did not end until around Noon EST on the 19th. In Berks County and upper Bucks County, precipitation started as rain during the morning of the 18th. The rain changed to snow during the afternoon of the 18th in Berks County and the evening of the 18th in upper Bucks County. It ended during the morning of the 19th. Accumulations were very elevation dependent and ranged from only an inch or two in the valleys to around ten inches in the higher terrain of the Poconos.||In The Poconos, fallen trees caused about 6,000 homes and businesses to lose power. Power was not completely restored until the afternoon of the 20th. In Smithfield Township (Monroe County), two sixty-five foot red oak trees were downed by the snow onto the deck of one home. A large limb also damaged the chimney of that home. Fallen trees blocked several roads. In Monroe County, reported power outages caused by downed trees included Middle Smithfield, Smithfield, Hamilton and Ross Townships. Throughout the Poconos, most schools had delayed openings on the 19th (a Monday); a few were closed for the day. Many accidents were caused by the snow. In the Lehigh Valley, about 7,000 homes and businesses lost ower, mainly in Allentown and Bethlehem. Half of the outages were restored on the morning of the 19th, but power was not completely restored until the afternoon of the 20th.||Specific accumulations included (and were very elevation dependent): 11.0 inches in Blakeslee (Monroe County), 10.0 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County) and Albrightsville (Carbon County), 7.0 inches in Summit Hill (Carbon County), East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), Fredericksville and Stony Run (Berks County), 6.5 inches in New Tripoli (Lehigh County), 6.0 inches in Williams Township (Northampton County), 4.0 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County), 3.2 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 2.5 inches in Elverson (Chester County), 2.0 inches in Boyertown (Berks County) and East Nantmeal (Chester County), 1.0 inch in Morgantown (Berks County), 0.6 inches in Martins Creek (Northampton County) and only a trace in Doylestown (Bucks County) and Royersford (Montgomery County).

The combination of the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernnesto and a large high pressure system over eastern Canada produced heavy rain and winds over the Lehigh Valley. Rain moved into the area during the afternoon on the 1st and did not exit until the early evening on the 2nd. The heaviest rain fell during the daytime hours on the 2nd. Storm totals averaged one to two inches. The heavy rain produced poor drainage flooding. In addition to the heavy rain, persistent east to northeast winds caused tree damage as the heavy rain loosened the root support and weighed down limbs. The strongest winds occurred early on the 2nd. About 60,000 homes and businesses lost power in the Lehigh Valley, most had powered restored by the evening of the 2nd. Actual storm totals included 1.86 inches at both the Lehigh Valley international Airport (Lehigh County) and Walnutport (Northampton County) and 1.67 inches in Slatington (Lehigh County). The peak wind gust at the Lehigh Valley International Airport was 33 mph.The low pressure system that was Ernesto moved slowly north from around Petersburg, Virginia at 5 p.m. EDT on the 1st, to near Fredericksburg, Virginia at 11 p.m. EDT on the 1st, passed close to Washington D.C. at 5 a.m. EDT on the 2nd, near Hagerstown, Maryland at 8 a.m. EDT on the 2nd, near Altoona, Pennsylvania at 2 p.m. EDT on the 2nd and accelerated northward and was just southeast of Buffalo, New York at 2 a.m. EDT on the 3rd. Of greater importance, was a strong high pressure system (greater than 1032 millibars) that remained over southeastern Canada and maintained the pressure gradient (difference) between it and the remnant low of Ernesto.

Some severe thunderstorms roared across Lehigh County, Pennsylvania during the late afternoon of June 19th. Between 4:40 PM EDT and 5:00 PM EDT, trees and power lines were knocked down across the county. The hardest hit areas appeared to be the Allentown and Bethlehem areas. Winds and rain knocked trees and branches onto power lines causing sparks and a fire in Allentown. A large tree branch fell onto a line at 2451 South Carbon Street causing sparks but no fire. Branches also fell on lines at 354 Barber Street, causing a fire with even an electrical transformer catching fire. No injuries were reported as a result of the severe thunderstorms, however some 8,200 customers lost power in the Allentown and Bethlehem areas.

The combination of being near the center of a high pressure system that helped produce light winds and a deep snowpack caused record or near record breaking low temperatures on the morning of the 14th from the Lehigh Valley northward. For many this was the coldest day of the meteorological winter season. The low of 4 degrees below zero in East Stroudsburg tied the record for the day. The low of 2 degrees below zero at the Lehigh Valley International Airport established a new record low for the day. Six people in Allentown (Lehigh County) were sickened by carbon monoxide emissions from their faulty heating unit. The cold weather caused an increase in demand for electricity and Pennsylvania Power and Light came within 100 megawatts (7,174) between 7 and 8 a.m. EST of tying their winter hourly megawatt usage record set in December 20, 2004.

The combination of heavy rain and strong southerly winds helped knock down trees, tree limbs and wires in the Lehigh Valley during the late afternoon and early evening of the 29th. About 2,500 homes and businesses lost power, most of them within Allentown and Macungie in Lehigh County. Most of the outages were restored by Midnight EST that night. The greatest impact occurred along U.S. Route 22 in Lehigh County. All of the eastbound lanes and one westbound lane were closed for about 90 minutes from 615 p.m. through 745 p.m. EST because of downed poles and wires. The power outages affected stores near U.S. Route 22 in Whitehall Township (Lehigh County). The peak wind gust at the Lehigh Valley International Airport was 41 mph.

Tree limbs knocked down in the vicinity of the Lehigh Valley Hospital Muhlenberg in Hanover Township. Also, a tree was downed across Monocacy Creek in the city of Bethlehem. About 750 homes lost power in the Lehigh Valley.

A severe thunderstorm tore down large tree limbs and wires in the Borough of Emmaus. Wires were dangling at only about 15 feet above Interstate 78 in the borough as tractor-trailers barely passed under them. About 1,000 homes and businesses lost power in Lehigh County.

A thunderstorm cluster with frequent lightning caused about 3,000 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers to lose power during the night of July 1st.

Lightning struck the roof of the Saylor park Apartments in Whitehall Township. It caused a fire that destroyed most of the third floor apartments. All of the remaining apartments were so badly damaged by smoke and water that all twelve apartments in the building were deemed uninhabitable. Elsewhere, lightning strikes caused about 3,700 homes and businesses in Allentown and Bethlehem to lose power. The thunderstorms were prolific cloud-to-ground lightning producers during the afternoon of the 6th. Between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. EDT about 2,500 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes occurred along the band of thunderstorms from lower Dutchess County, New York southwest through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

A low pressure system exiting the United States from the Delmarva Peninsula brought rain and then snow to the Lehigh Valley and heavy snow in the Poconos. Accumulations averaged 2 to 4 inches in the Lehigh Valley and 5 to 10 inches in the Poconos. Following the pattern of other winter storms this season, the accumulating snow hit the evening commute the hardest which was described as a nightmare in the Poconos. Precipitation in the Lehigh Valley started as rain the morning of the 23rd around sunrise and changed to snow during the afternoon. The snow ended around Midnight EST on the 24th. In the Poconos, precipitation started as snow around sunrise on the 23rd and mixed with sleet and rain at times during the morning over the lower elevations. The snow continued through the night and ended just before sunrise on the 24th.Dozens of crashes occurred as vehicles skidded from roadways, overturned or became stuck. The Pocono evening commute started poorly as three tractor-trailers jack-knifed on westbound Interstate 80 just west of Blakeslee at 330 p.m. This closed the Interstate in both directions in Carbon and Monroe Counties until 8 p.m. EST. The eastbound side was reopened at 8 p.m. EST and the westbound side was reopened at 9 p.m. EST. Firefighters used all terrain vehicles to help lead stranded traffic off of the Interstate. Interstate 80 was not alone as accidents and impassable hills led to stopped traffic for 3 to 5 hours through the evening commute on Interstate 380 and Pennsylvania State Routes 33, 115, 196, 611, 903 and 940. On Pennsylvania State Route 33 between Wind Gap (Northampton County) and Stroudsburg, commuters were averaging a speed of one mile per hour. The bumper-to-bumper traffic conditions made it difficult for PennDOT crews to clear the roads. Commutes from New York City took up to eight hours. Even some lesser roads were closed. A school bus became stuck in the snow in Tobyhanna Township (Monroe County) and some school children were stranded at their school before finally getting home later that day in Carbon County. The combination of accidents and the heavy wet snow led to downed trees in Pike and Monroe Counties and about 16,100 homes and businesses lost power. All power was restored by the 25th. In the Lehigh Valley, the change to snow led to dozens of accidents. A car crash led to a serious injury in Weisenberg Township (Lehigh County). In Plainfield Township (Northampton County), a male driver avoided serious injuries even though his vehicle skidded across opposing traffic and landed in a creek. The most serious damage in the valley occurred in Washington Township when a vehicle skidded off a road and slid between a home and a utility pole. The vehicle's passenger side struck and ruptured an oil tank and a natural gas line on the side of the home. This caused an explosion that set the house on fire. The homeowner ran out the back door and the driver and passengers of the vehicle were also uninjured. The flames charred the north side of the home and claimed the lives of the homeowner's pet snake and cat. Everything within the house was destroyed. About two dozen people were evacuated until the natural gas line was closed. They all returned by the next morning. Accumulations included 10.5 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 8.0 inches in Albrightsville (Carbon County) and Pocono Summit (Monroe County), 7.8 inches in Bossardsville (Monroe County), 6.0 inches in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 5.5 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County), 3.5 inches in Williams Township (Northampton County), 2.0 inches in Forks Township (Northampton County) and 1.3 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport.The late winter storm was caused by a low pressure system that formed in the Southern Plains States on the 21st and moved east and reached Memphis, Tennessee early in the evening on the 22nd, in central Kentucky around sunrise on the 23rd, just west of Norfolk at 1 p.m. EST on the 23rd, just east of Wallops Island, Virginia at 7 p.m. EST on the 23rd and about 200 miles east of Cape May, New Jersey at 1 a.m. EST on the 24th.

A wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain fell across Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos on the 11th. Precipitation started as snow across the region during the second half of the morning in the Poconos and around Noon EST farther south. As warmer air moved in aloft, the snow changed to sleet and freezing rain during the second half of the afternoon in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley and toward evening in the Poconos. Enough warm air moved in near the surface to change the precipitation to plain rain in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley toward evening. Farther north, precipitation fell as mainly freezing rain or freezing drizzle. The freezing rain ended during the late evening, but freezing drizzle persisted through the night. For the Poconos, unlike the two earlier events in the month, more precipitation fell as snow than freezing rain. Ice accretions throughout the region averaged less than one-tenth of an inch. Snow accumulations averaged one to three inches with the highest amounts in the Poconos. Schools in the Lehigh Valley dismissed early. While the additional ice did not cause more power outages, the wintry mix hampered restoration efforts. Specific snow accumulations included 3 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County), 1.5 inches in Albany (Berks County) and 0.5 inches at both the Lehigh Valley International Airport and Forks Township (Northampton County). The wintry mix as caused by moisture being lifted north and above a nearly stationary front across the Middle Atlantic States. A high pressure system that was located in northern New York when precipitation started supplied enough cold air for precipitation to start as snow. But as it moved east and warmer air moved in above the ground, precipitation turned to sleet and then freezing rain. There was enough of an easterly flow in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley to scour the cold air from the surface and raise temperatures above freezing.

Pouring salt into a bad wound, a second ice storm in the space of three days affected the Poconos and the Lehigh Valley. Unlike the previous event, precipitation fell as either plain rain or freezing rain. There was no sleet or snow. In the region (especially the Lehigh Valley), precipitation type was elevation dependent as plain rain fell in the valleys, but fell as freezing rain over the higher terrain. Ice accretions from the two storms averaged greater than one inch in the hard hit locations on the Pocono Plateau in Carbon and Monroe Counties. The combination of the additional ice and continued temperatures below freezing caused additional outages and hampered restoration efforts. States of emergencies continued for sections of Carbon and Monroe Counties. Precipitation began around Midnight EST on the 8th and ended around Noon EST. Prior to dawn, temperatures in the higher terrain of the Lehigh Valley were below freezing. They rose above freezing during the morning as did some of the valleys in the Poconos. But, temperatures never reached above freezing in the Pocono Plateau. Around 1/4 of an inch of additional ice accrued on exposed surfaces in the Lehigh Valley and 1/4 to 1/2 inch of additional ice accrued on exposed surfaces in the Poconos. In the Poconos, the additional ice slowed restoration efforts. Even when power was restored, additional falling trees took down other power lines and caused more outages. Schools in Carbon County did not reopen until the 10th and in Monroe County not until the 12th everywhere. The outage number in Monroe County decreased from 28,000 on the 8th to 22,000 on the 10th, to 8,000 on the 12th, to 5,800 on the 14th. Power was not completely restored in the Poconos until the 16th. In the Lehigh Valley in Northampton County, Pennsylvania State Route 191 was closed. Newly downed trees worsened restoration efforts in the North Bangor Section of Upper Mount Bethel Township. The second ice storm was caused by a low pressure system that developed in the western Gulf of Mexico on the morning of the 7th. It moved northeast and reached near Pittsburgh on the morning of the 8th. Unlike the previous storm, the high pressure system was not in a favorable location for ice as it was located over the New England coastal waters on the morning of the 8th. But the previous ice storm left an environment (plenty of ice) which made it difficult for the cold air near the surface to be scoured. In fact the primary low pressure system weakened as it moved into Lake Ontario and a secondary low pressure system formed along the Delaware Coast during the afternoon of the 8th keeping a northeast flow throughout the event.

One of the worst ice storms in history to affect the Poconos occurred on January 5th and 6th. As nasty as that storm was, it was exacerbated by another ice storm on January 8th. At one point, nearly three-quarters of Carbon County was without power and nearly 46,000 homes and businesses in Monroe County lost power. Systemwide 238,000 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers lost power and the total repair cost was estimated at $25,000,000. Metropolitan Edison reported about 40,000 of its customers lost power. Thousands upon thousands of trees were knocked down or damaged. The number of outages cascaded. There were only 1,000 the morning of the 6th, but that increased to 27,000 the afternoon of the 6th and 91,000 the evening of the 6th. There was only one direct injury from the storm, but a couple died of carbon monoxide poisoning trying to heat their powerless home. It took until January 16th for power to be completely restored. Hardest hit locations was in the Pocono Plateau region in Carbon and Monroe Counties. States of emergencies were declared in both Carbon and Monroe Counties. Numerous roads were closed because of ice and downed trees. Firefighters had to clear roads to respond to emergencies. Unnecessary driving was not recommended. Many shelters were opened. The Red Cross served over 6,000 meals. Many hotels that had electricity were booked solid. Bottled water was distributed. While downed trees also caused power outages in the Lehigh Valley, it did not match the damage in the Poconos. Ironically precipitation started as plain rain before dawn on the 5th. It changed to freezing rain over the higher terrain of the Poconos during the first part of the morning and then changed to snow later that morning. Precipitation changed back to freezing rain around Midnight EST on the 6th in the Lehigh Valley and a bit after Midnight EST in the Poconos. Freezing rain also occurred in northern parts of Berks and Bucks Counties between Midnight EST and 7 a.m. EST on the 6th before precipitation changed back to plain rain. The change to plain rain worked its way north into the Lehigh Valley during the morning of the 6th, but precipitation remained freezing rain throughout most of the Poconos. Ice accretions in the Lehigh Valley averaged between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch and between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch in the Poconos. Snowfall accumulations in the Poconos were between one and three inches. In Monroe County, a 57-year-old man and his 73-year-old companion died of carbon monoxide poisoning. They were running an gas-powered electrical generator in a garage beneath the home as well as two kerosene heaters. The fumes from the generator were not properly ventilated. Their pet cat also died. Dozens of others were taken to Pocono Medical Center with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. The only known injury was a 47-year-old PennDOT worker who was injured when a tree fell onto his truck and he injured his shoulder. At least seventy trees fell on top of vehicles and homes. Emergency services in Monroe County responded to 1,300 calls on the 7th, the normal response number for an entire weekend. Schools were closed from the 5th through the 10th. All reopened on the 11th, except for the Pocono Mountain School District which did not re-open until the 12th. Many crashes occurred on Interstate 80. Too many roads were closed to keep track. Six major roads were still closed on the 7th. The Pocono Plateau was described as a war zone from Mount Pocono to Tobyhanna to Blakeslee. Fields were filled with downed trees and power lines. Even months later, the drive along Interstate 80 looks as though a large tornado sheared the tops from thousands of trees. The restoration efforts were thwarted by temperatures that did not get to the mid 30s in the Pocono Plateau until the 10th. About 32,000 homes and businesses still had no power on the 7th just as the next ice storm was starting. In Carbon County, the worst tree damage occurred in Penn Forest and Kidder Townships. That was followed by damage in Mahoning and Towamensing Townships. The Penn Forest Fire Company set a daily record for emergency responses. Entire boroughs and townships lost power. Telephone service was also lost in Penn Forest and Kidder Townships. U.S. Routes 309 and 209 as well as Pennsylvania State Routes 54, 93 and 902 were all closed. It took until the 10th to have all of the major roads opened. Nine shelters were opened in fire stations, community centers and churches. schools were closed from the 5th through the 9th. Ironically, the impossible traveling conditions resulted in no reported traffic accidents in Kidder Township. Power was finally restored on the 16th to the hardest hit Indian Mountain Lakes, Towamensing Trails and Mount Pocohontas Developments in Penn Forest Township. In the Lehigh Valley, the worst conditions occurred at the northern end of the valley. In Lehigh County, all power was out in New Tripoli and the northern end of Washington Township. In Northampton County, Metropolitan Edison reported about 2,000 of its customers lost power. A state of emergency was declared in Upper Mount Bethel due to extensive power outages. Shelters were opened (three shelters were opened countywide). Downed trees and power outages were also reported in Bangor Borough, Plainfield Township, Bushkill Township, Wind Gap Borough, Pen Argyl Borough and Mount Bethel Township. Power outages were reported as far south as Nazareth. Snowfall accumulations included 3.0 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County) and 2.2 inches at the F.E. Walter Dam (Carbon County). Ice accretions included 0.75 of an inch in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 0.5 of an inch in Albrightsville (Carbon County) and Heidelberg Township (Lehigh County) and 0.33 of an inch in Lehighton (Carbon County). The set was stage for the ice storm when a cold front moved through the region on the 4th. This allowed a cold air mass in the low levels to establish itself in the region. As a low pressure system moved east from the the Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley, it pushed warmer air aloft above this cold air mass. At the same time, a high pressure system slid across nearby Canada and kept a fresh supply of cold air near the surface. The low pressure system (which moved to Pittsburgh on the morning of the 6th) redeveloped along the Delmarva Peninsula later that day as the cold air remained wedged in place. Precipitation aloft fell as rain, but the high pressure system in nearby Canada kept that fresh supply of cold air that had the rain fall as freezing rain throughout the heart of the event.

A line of severe thunderstorms tore down power lines and large tree limbs in western Lehigh County. About 7,700 homes and businesses lost power. Hardest hit was the Trexlertown area in Upper Macungie Township.

A severe thunderstorm pulled down trees and wires from the central part of Lehigh County southeast through Allentown. About 6,500 homes and businesses lost power in the Lehigh Valley because of the wind damage and lightning. Thirteen people were stuck in an elevator for about 45 minutes at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown after power was lost. Several people were also trapped inside an apartment elevator within the city. Ninety percent of the outages were restored by 1030 p.m. EDT on the 17th and all power was restored during the morning of the 18th.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down a couple of trees in the southeastern part of Lehigh County. One downed tree damaged a home in Upper Saucon Township. About 3,200 homes and businesses lost power; most of the outages were in Allentown. All power was restored by Midnight EDT.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down trees along the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in North Whitehall Township and also in Allentown. About 4,000 homes and businesses in and around Allentown lost power because of the downed trees.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down trees in the Whitehall and Hanover Townships. About 4,000 homes and businesses lost power in and around Allentown.

The combination of heavy rain during the first half of the day on the 11th and additional runoff from the melting snow produced widespread poor drainage flooding in the Lehigh Valley and Carbon County. Storm totals averaged between one and three inches. In Lehigh County, Spring Creek road was closed in Lower Macungie Township. In Northampton County, flooding along Lehigh Drive closed the roadway for most of the daytime hours in Easton. In Lower Saucon Township, the loosened soil caused several trees to topple. About 17,000 homes and businesses lost power. Storm totals included 2.70 inches in Forks Township (Northampton County), 2.20 inches in Easton (Northampton County), 1.85 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County) and 1.28 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport. The heavy rain was caused by an intense low pressure system at both the surface and aloft that developed over the Southern Plains on the 9th. The primary low pressure system moved toward the Great Lakes on the morning of the 10th while a secondary low pressure system was forming near the upper air support over the Tennessee Valley. This secondary low pressure system continued to intensify and was located over North Carolina the evening of the 10th, near Philadelphia around 7 a.m. EST on the 11th and in western Connecticut early in the evening on the 11th. This secondary low pressure system helped wring the moisture in the atmosphere from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean onto the region.

A slow moving cold front helped produce heavy rain as it displaced a warm and humid air mass preceding it across the Lehigh Valley. Widespread flooding was reported across the region and made for a difficult morning commute. Doppler Radar storm total estimates ranged from 1 to 4 inches with th highest in northwest Lehigh County. The heaviest rain fell between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. EDT. Runoff from the heavy rain led to flooding along sections of the Lehigh River including Walnutport. In Walnutport, the Lehigh River was above its 8 foot flood stage from 1225 p.m. through 525 p.m. EDT on the 23rd. It crested at 8.39 feet at 245 p.m. EDT. The Jordan Creek in Allentown flooded Jordan Park and also the Home Depot parking lot in Whitehall Township (Lehigh County). Sections of both Pennsylvania State Routes 309 and 248 were closed in Lehigh County. In Northampton County, the Lehigh River flooded Lehigh Drive in West Easton for about three-quarters of a mile. Pennsylvania State Route 145 in Lehigh Township was closed across the Lehigh River. Flooding along the Bushkill Creek forced the closure of Zucksville Road. The heavy rain weakened some trees and consequently knocked down some power lines in the Lehigh Valley. About 6,000 homes and businesses lost power. Storm totals included 1.95 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and 1.84 inches in Easton. September 2003 was an unseasonably wet month throughout Eastern Pennsylvania. On a county weighted average, monthly precipitation totals ranged from 5.9 inches in Philadelphia County to 12.5 inches in Monroe County. The Lehigh County average was 12.0 inches and Northampton County 10.8 inches. Normal is around 4.1 inches. The September monthly precipitation total at the Lehigh Valley International Airport was 11.08 inches, which was 6.71 inches wetter than normal and the second wettest September on record.

A nine-year-old boy escaped serious injury when he was indirectly struck by lightning during an outdoor party in Laubach Park in Salisbury Township. A utility pole was apparently struck by lightning. The boy was holding a string to a balloon that was tied to a steel bicycle rack that was chained to the utility pole. He was knocked to the ground. In Allentown, lightning struck a large willow tree and snapped it. The tree fell across Federal Street and blocked it. The tree also tore down power lines and caused outages to 1,816 Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) customers. PPL reported about an additional 1,100 of its customers also lost power in the Lehigh Valley because of lightning. Most power was restored by 6 p.m. EDT that evening.

A potent line of severe thunderstorms knocked down numerous trees and wires from the Blue Mountains southeast through Salisbury Township. Systemwide, about 176,000 Pennsylvania Power and Light Customers lost power in Pennsylvania because of the line of severe storms, about 12,000 of the outages were in the Poconos and Lehigh Valley.

A severe thunderstorm downed a few trees mainly along the Lehigh and Bucks County border and caused scattered power outages.

The most significant Christmas Day winter storm since 1966 crippled the Poconos, brought heavy snow to the Lehigh Valley, Berks County and the far northern suburbs of Philadelphia and a wintry mix to the rest of the Philadelphia suburbs. Precipitation began as light snow on Christmas Eve. As the northeaster moved northeast along the eastern seaboard, warmer air from the Atlantic and the south warmed the air between 3,000 and 8,000 feet above ground level. This changed precipitation over to sleet and light freezing rain. As warmer air moved in near the ground precipitation changed to plain rain across much of the Philadelphia northwest suburbs by daybreak on Christmas Day and by mid-morning in the Lehigh Valley and Berks County. In the Poconos, most temperatures remained below freezing and around two-tenths of an inch of ice accrued on exposed surfaces. The northeaster was in the process of intensifying rapidly along the Middle Atlantic seaboard and both its precipitation intensity and coverage increased rapidly across Eastern Pennsylvania during the second half of the morning. As precipitation intensity increased and winds started to shift from the northeast to north, precipitation started to change to all snow. This began in the Poconos by 1030 a.m. EST and moved southeast during the remaining daylight hours across the rest of the state. Precipitation changed back to snow around 11 am EST in the Lehigh Valley and Berks County and between 11 a.m. and Noon EST in the Philadelphia northwest suburbs. The heaviest snow fell between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. EST and snowfall rates in parts of the Poconos averaged two inches per hour. The snow ended during the evening, except overnight in the Poconos. The combination of freezing rain, sleet and heavy wet snow brought down a plethora of trees, tree limbs and power lines from Berks and Schuylkill Counties northeast through the Poconos. About 225,000 Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) and Metropolitan Edison customers lost power. The 175,000 outages to PPL customers was the second worst on record only surpassed by Hurricane Floyd. Huge trees snapped like twigs and even utility poles snapped. Thousands of trees were knocked down. Entire sections of new lines, poles and transformers had to be replaced. The restoration process was hindered because many of the outages were in remote areas and the smaller roads were not plowed. In addition, trees continued to fall through the weekend (28th and 29th) and created new outages. Repair crews from as far away as Maryland, New York and western Pennsylvania helped with the restoration process. Entire sections of Interstates 80, 81, 84 and 380 were closed. Interstate 80 was closed at the New Jersey State border. In Carbon County, a state of emergency was declared on Christmas Day and was not lifted until December 29th. Twice the county had to hand emergency response calls to Monroe County. All fire department and ambulance personnel were placed on stand-by. Power was restored for good at the county emergency services during the evening of the 27th. Shelters were opened in five Carbon County townships. Many people resorted to placing snow in their refrigerators to keep food cold and melting snow on stove tops to flush toilets. U.S. Route 209 was closed between Lansford and Nesquehoning because of downed trees. Businesses in Jim Thorpe were closed through the 28th. About 31,000 Carbon County residents lost power. The number was down to 7,700 the evening of the 27th and 1,400 the evening of the 29th (all in the Panther Valley). Power was completely restored on the 30th. In Monroe County, the southern and western parts of the county were hit the hardest. About 16,000 county residents lost power. All power was restored on the 27th with the last restoration in the Pocono Wild Haven Estate in Wooddale. Many vehicles were abandoned and left on roadways. Many roads were impassable during the height of the storm. All county offices were closed on the 26th. The 21 inches of snow in Tobyhanna was a one day December record. In Berks County 30,000 homes and businesses lost power, two-thirds of them in Reading. Other hard hit municipalities were Sinking Spring, Cumru, Hamburg, Fleetwood and Oley. Several shelters were opened throughout the county. The Red Cross also sent people without power to hotels. All power was restored by the morning of the 29th. Two men in the county died shoveling snow. One was a 57-year-old in Muhlenberg Township and the other was a 78-year-old in Sinking Spring. In the Lehigh Valley, Interstate 78 was plagued with vehicles stuck in snow. There were multiple minor collisions on U.S. Route 22 as well as Pennsylvania State Routes 33 and 248. About 5,600 homes and businesses lost power in the valley mainly in Allentown, Emmaus, Salisbury and South Whitehall Townships. In the Philadelphia suburbs the quick accumulation of snow led to many accidents. Vehicles were unable to ascend hills and many slipped and slid into ditches. By the middle of the afternoon there were over 100 reported accidents in Bucks County. Strong winds and sleet forced the cancellation of the annual re-enactment of Washington crossing the Delaware River. Specific accumulations included 21 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 19 inches in Albrightsville (Carbon County) and Blakeslee (Monroe County), 14.8 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County), 14 inches in Beltzville (Carbon County), 13 inches in Jim Thorpe (Carbon County) and Vinemont (Berks County), 12 inches in Mohnton (Berks County), 10.8 inches in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 10 inches in Honeybrook (Chester County), 8 inches in Morgantown (Berks County) and Schnecksville (Lehigh County), 7.5 inches in Perkasie (Bucks County), 7.4 inches in Williams Township (Northampton County), 7.2 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 7 inches in Reading (Berks County), 6.6 inches in Bath (Northampton County), 6 inches in Easton (Northampton County), 5.2 inches in Glenmoore (Chester County), 4.9 inches in Palm (Montgomery County), 4.8 inches in Doylestown (Bucks County), 3.0 inches in Southampton (Bucks County), 2.7 inches in Green Lane (Montgomery County) and 1 inch in Valley Forge (Chester County)The northeaster that produced the tidal flooding moved from Mississippi the morning of the 24th to near Norfolk the morning of the 25th to just west of Atlantic City during the afternoon of the 25th to south of Nova Scotia the morning of the 26th.

A winter storm of sleet and freezing rain affected the northern Philadelphia suburbs, Berks County and the Lehigh Valley. Freezing rain and sleet also fell in the Poconos, but precipitation changed to snow before it ended during the evening of the 11th. About 12,000 Eastern Pennsylvania residents lost power, mainly from freezing rain and sleet accruing to exposed surfaces and taking down tree limbs and subsequently power lines. While it was warm enough aloft for precipitation to fall as rain, enough cold air was left at or near the surface by a departing high pressure system for the rain to freeze on contact or for precipitation to fall as sleet. Precipitation (in the form of sleet and freezing rain) spread from south to north across the area between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. EST. In upper sections of Montgomery, Chester and Bucks Counties, surface temperatures remained below freezing throughout the morning and about a quarter of an inch of ice accrued to exposed surfaces. Farther south in those counties, precipitation just briefly fell as freezing rain or sleet before temperatures rose above freezing. The change to plain rain took longer (into the middle of the afternoon) across Berks County and the Lehigh Valley. The changeover was also elevation dependent. Higher terrain locations took longer to change to plain rain. In the Poconos, some valley locations changed to plain rain during the afternoon, otherwise a wintry mix continued. Ice accretions in the Lehigh Valley averaged around one quarter of an inch and in Berks County and the Poconos averaged between one quarter and one half of an inch. A couple of inches of snow then accumulated across higher terrain locations of the Poconos during the evening of the 11th. Precipitation ended late in the evening on the 11th. In Berks County, numerous minor accidents occurred. Most schools, government offices and businesses closed because of the ice. About 6,200 Metropolitan Edison and Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) customers lost power because of downed power lines by tree limbs. Power was restored during the evening of the 12th. In the Poconos, numerous accidents also occurred. In Stroudsburg (Monroe County) two pickup trucks crashed head on and a woman flipped her car on Pennsylvania State Route 191. Traffic moved at a crawl through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation area. Vehicles slid into ditches on Interstate 80. Many schools were closed and most had delayed openings on the 12th. Evening events were postponed. About 5,000 PPL customers lost power. The number was down to 2,000 on the 12th with full restoration on the 13th. The snow during the evening of the 11th slowed the restoration process. A large high pressure system from central Canada brought in cold, dry air into the region. As a low pressure system formed in the Gulf of Mexico on the 10th, it started to push moisture north into the region. As the high retreated into New England, the low moved northeast along the Atlantic Seaboard from near Myrtle Beach the morning of the 11th to near Cape Cod the morning of the 12th. Enough warm air moved westward from the Atlantic to change precipitation to plain rain along the coastal plain. But, the cold air became entrenched, especially over the Poconos, Berks County and the Lehigh Valley and was difficult to displace throughout this event.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down numerous trees and wires throughout Lehigh County. The greatest damage occurred south and west of Allentown. Several large trees were knocked down in Lower Macungie Township. Western Salisbury Township was also hard hit with many trees and wires down. About a half dozen roads were closed including the 24th Street Bridge between the township and Allentown. Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 9,700 of its customers lost power because of the storm with the greatest concentration in Lehigh County in southern Allentown and Emmaus. Only a third of their customers had power restored by 1030 p.m. EDT that evening and power was completely restored to the last 1,000 on the 4th. Five people in Allentown were rescued from a stuck elevator after the power was lost.

Severe thunderstorms knocked over trees and wires across the southern half of Lehigh County. The worst wind damage was reported in Upper Macungie and Upper Saucon Townships. In Upper Macungie Township, numerous trees and wires were knocked down near the intersection of Interstate 78 and Pennsylvania State Route 100. Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 7,300 of its customers in its service area (including the Lehigh Valley) lost power because of the thunderstorms.

A severe thunderstorm tore down several trees in Lower Milford Township. Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) reported about 9,000 of its customers lost power in the Lehigh Valley.

A line of strong to severe thunderstorms moved through Lehigh County just after midnight EST on the 10th. The worst wind damage was reported in Slatington Borough where a couple of trees were knocked down. Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 56,000 of its Pennsylvania customers lost power because of the line of thunderstorms. The worst damage though was west of the Poconos and Lehigh Valley.

While the surface low pressure system that caused the snow on Sunday the 6th was located over Nova Scotia the morning of the 7th, the upper level system that supported the surface low still had to move through Pennsylvania and New Jersey. As it did, light snow developed across the area. In and around Philadelphia, temperatures remained above freezing and snow melted as it fell. But farther north, where temperatures were colder and the precipitation intensity was heavier, snow accumulated between 1 and 4 inches. Untreated roads became slippery, especially from Berks County northeast through the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos. In Berks County, a vehicular accident killed one person and injured two others on Pennsylvania State Route 625 in Cumru Township. Sixty persons lost power in the township. Elsewhere in the county, a seven vehicle pile-up on Interstate 76 during the afternoon of the 7th resulted in 20 to 30 other vehicles skidding and becoming stuck on the icy stretch of the interstate. A five vehicle accident closed the only lane of the Lindbergh Viaduct. Accumulations included 3.5 inches in Saylorsburg (Monroe County), 3.0 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County), Bath (Northampton County) and Salisbury Township (Lehigh County), 2.5 inches in Williams Township (Northampton County), 2.0 inches in Perkasie (Bucks County), 1.4 inches in Glenmoore (Chester County) and one inch at the Lehigh Valley International Airport.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down large tree limbs in Upper Saucon Township and Allentown. Several roads were blocked. Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 3,500 homes and businesses lost power in the Lehigh Valley; 2,300 of the outages were in Allentown.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down trees and power lines in Fogelsville and Lower Milford Township.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down several trees and numerous wires across central Lehigh County. Downed trees blocked roadways in North Whitehall Township. About 8,000 Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) customers lost power from the first round of severe thunderstorms in the Lehigh Valley. All power was restored by 9 p.m. EDT on the 2nd.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down trees and wires from Coopersburg in Lehigh County eastward across the southern tier of Northampton County. Numerous trees and wires were knocked down in Bethlehem City. One downed tree crushed a vehicle. Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 15,000 customers lost power from both severe thunderstorms that affected the Lehigh Valley. The second severe storm knocked out power to 5,000 GPU Energy customers in Easton.

A line of severe thunderstorms knocked down several trees and numerous limbs in Lehigh County. About 6,000 homes and businesses lost power in the Lehigh Valley.

A cold front moved through Eastern Pennsylvania on the 23rd. A large high pressure system build into the region that night and on the 24th. Meanwhile a rather intense low pressure system was located over the foothills of the Rockies on the morning of the 24th. It moved into the western Great Lakes the morning of the 25th as the high pressure system moved east to the Canadian Maritimes. While the low pressure system was intense, it was located too far west to quickly scour the cold air that was left across most of Eastern Pennsylvania. Precipitation started as sleet and freezing rain across the Poconos, Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and the far northern Philadelphia suburbs. By 9 a.m. EST enough warm air had arrived for the precipitation to change to plain rain from the Lehigh Valley south. Ice accretions were generally less than one tenth of an inch. Farther to the north, it took longer for the warm air to move in near the surface and freezing rain persisted until around Noon EST in the Poconos. By then between .15 and .30 of an inch of ice accrued on exposed surfaces (such as trees and power lines). Lesser amounts accrued on roadways, but untreated roads and walks were extremely hazardous. Since this event occurred on a Sunday morning, the number of traffic accidents were less than would have occurred on a weekday morning.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down numerous trees in Lehigh County. The greatest concentration was in the southwest part of the county, the least in the northeast part of the county. Within Allentown itself, about twenty trees were knocked down on roadways. Power outages and small hail were reported in Fogelsville.

A severe thunderstorm left a swath of wind damage across southern Lehigh County from Upper Macungie Township east through Allentown. A wind gust of 69 mph was measured at the Lehigh Valley international Airport. GPU Energy reported about 36,000 homes and businesses lost power in the Lehigh Valley. Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 25,000 homes and businesses lost power in the Lehigh Valley, 14,000 of the outages were in Lehigh County. Hardest hit were locations along the U.S. Route 22 corridor. Power was not completely restored until Monday evening the 15th. The severe thunderstorm entered Upper Macungie near Windswept Road and tore down several large trees. The thunderstorm produced several funnel clouds, but none of them touched down in the township. In Lower Macungie Township, the thunderstorm tore down trees along Beech Lane. Interstate 78 was closed until 4 a.m. EDT on the 14th because of downed wires between the Hamilton Boulevard and Lehigh Street exits. At the Lehigh Valley International Airport, the high winds tore pieces of roofing from several hangers, damaged one general aviation plane and one DC9. In Allentown, the thunderstorm tore down a 250-year-old tree that fell on and damaged a home. Lightning struck the roof of the Bethany Evangelical Congregational Church in Allentown. The ensuing fire spread under the roof and burned a 50 foot hole. Damage was estimated at $50,000. The high winds and lightning caused the five local television and radio stations to lose power. No serious injuries were reported.