Record-breaking snow hits Pa.
34 inches fell on Christmas Day alone
Lake-effect snow buried Pennsylvania’s fourth-largest city under more than four feet of snow over Christmas, smashing both local and state snowfall records while hampering holiday travel around the Great Lakes.
With snow falling at a rate of up to three inches per hour, the National Weather Service reported Erie, Pa., picked up at least 58 inches of snow since the storm began on Christmas Eve. The bulk of that fell in a 30-hour period from Christmas morning into Tuesday.
Erie officials have declared a state of emergency, and are pleading with motorists to stay off city streets and nearby highways, including interstates 90 and 79. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, D, was also expected to call up some national guardsmen because so much snow has fallen there is concern ambulances will not able to reach some patients.
“They don’t have vehicles high enough, so we are currently working with the national guard to be able to deploy Humvee ambulances to assist them,” said Richard Flinn, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Emergency Management. “We will also provide the state police with Humvees in case they need it.”
According to the National Weather Service, Erie received 34 inches on Christmas Day, easily topping its previous 24-hour snowfall record. After another 24 inches piled up from midnight through 5 p.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service said Erie had broken Pennsylvania’s previous all-time two-day state snowfall record, set in 1958 when Morgantown received 44 inches.
An additional one foot to two feet of snow could fall across Erie through Wednesday.
So far, Erie has received 97 inches of snow in December, making it the snowiest month in the city’s history. The city averages about 100 inches of snow in an entire season.
Located along Lake Erie nearly midway between Buffalo and Cleveland — which the storm has largely spared, so far — Erie’s 99,000 residents are used to heavy snow and brutal winds. In late fall and early winter, cold air pours over the relatively warm lake waters, picking up moisture and depositing it downwind as snow.
But the heaviest snow usually falls away from the immediate lakeshore, where higher elevation helps to squeeze out the most moisture. It’s also relatively rare for the most intense snow bands to remain parked over one area for an extended period.
This time, the snow band stalled along the shoreline, clogging streets in Erie with mounds of snow. At times on Christmas, parts of Erie were receiving one inch of snow every 15 minutes, according to social media.