page_title: February 2007 North American blizzard
section_title: States of emergency and mobilizations
hierarchical_section_title: February 2007 North American blizzard / Impact / States of emergency and mobilizations
caption_attribution_description: The New England states shown after receiving a lot of snowfall from the February 2007 North America winter storm.
context_page_description: The February 2007 North American blizzard was a massive winter storm that affected most of the eastern half of North America, starting on February 12, 2007 and peaking on Valentine's Day, February 14. The storm produced heavy snowfalls across the midwestern United States from Nebraska to Ohio and produced similar conditions across parts of the northeastern United States, and into Canada in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. Significant sleet and freezing rain fell across the southern Ohio Valley and affected portions of the east coast of the United States, including the cities of Boston, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia.
  The southern portion of the storm produced severe thunderstorms with numerous tornadoes reported. One tornado hit a subdivision of New Orleans that was still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which hit the region in August 2005. In total, this storm system was responsible for 37 deaths across 13 U.S. states and Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec. The NOAA classified the storm as a Category 3 "Major" storm.
context_section_description: Maine Governor John Baldacci declared a state of emergency in order to assure heating oil for residents of the state, which was one of the hardest hit areas by the snowstorm.
  Due to the additional heavy snowfall, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer called in the National Guard to assist in the snow removal efforts in the areas hit by the lake effect snow storm.
  In Pennsylvania, Governor Ed Rendell declared a disaster emergency across the entire state on the 15th. PPL Electric Utilities Corporation reported 1,542 customers were without power for a time during the storm in the Lancaster, Harrisburg and Allentown areas. Snow began across between 6 AM and 7 AM EST on the 13th in Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Berks counties. The snow then overspread Bucks, Northampton, Lehigh, Carbon, Berks, and most of Schuylkill counties between 8 AM and 10 AM EST, but held off in Monroe County until the early afternoon hours. There was a lull in the precipitation during the evening hours of the 13th especially across southeastern Pennsylvania, however the precipitation became widespread overnight and during the early morning hours of the 14th.
  As some warmer air began to move in above the surface, the snow mixed with and changed to sleet and freezing rain between 6 PM and 7 PM EST on the 13th in Philadelphia and Delaware Counties, then between 7 PM and 11 PM across most other areas in eastern Pennsylvania. The southern Poconos saw less mixed precipitation, however there was a period of mixed precipitation between about 7:30 PM on the 13th and 11:30 AM on the 14th. For a brief time during the afternoon of the 14th, temperatures rose a couple of degrees above freezing with no precipitation falling. Temperatures then dropped below freezing again by the late afternoon of the 14th with a period of snow before the precipitation came to an end between 8:30 PM and 10 PM on the 14th. Wraparound snow showers lingered in Monroe and Carbon Counties until 2 AM EST on the 15th.
  In Berks County, snow and sleet along with very cold temperatures combined with some accidents and other aspects to cause a 50-mile backup on Interstate 78. Many motorists, including more than 100 trucks, were stuck on the interstate for nearly 24 hours, without food, water and running out of fuel. At 12:26 PM on the 14th, a caller tells a 911 center he???s been stuck in traffic on westbound Interstate 78 near the Berks-Lehigh county line for more than an hour. At 1:02 PM, a truck driver tells the Berks Communications Center about a seven-mile backup on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 78 near Hamburg. At 4:40 PM, a 911 caller asked to speak to the Berks Emergency Management Agency. The Berks Deputy Coordinator took the call. At 4:59 PM, The Berks Deputy Coordinator called the State Emergency Operations Center and was told the center learned of the backup at 4:33 PM. At 5:22 PM, Berks Emergency Management calls the state police at the Hamburg barracks but cannot get through, so he decided to drive there. At 6:08 PM, the Berks Emergency Management Deputy Coordinator finds that the Hamburg barracks is without power and phones. At 6:27 PM, a senior decision-maker from PennDOT is requested to arrive at the Hamburg state police barracks to help with communications. At 9:30 PM, a PennDOT supervisor arrived in Hamburg.
  At 10:30 PM, all westbound Interstate 78 traffic is stopped at the Hamburg exit due to numerous disabled vehicles. At 10:40 PM, Governor Ed Rendell declared a disaster emergency. On the 15th at 3:54 AM, state troopers and emergency personnel began walking miles of Interstate 78, waking up truckers who have gone to sleep as traffic begins to move. At 5 PM on the 15th, the state orders Interstate 78 shut down in both directions from Interstate 81 in Lebanon County to Route 100 in Lehigh County. At 6 PM on the 15th, plowing begins and continued through the night. Additional snow removing equipment was brought in from the western part of the state to help with the clearing of the highway. Highway officials along with the National Guard and State Police worked t
caption: A NASA satellite image of the New England region coated in snow after the storm
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