An Alberta Clipper low pressure system dropped snow across Eastern Pennsylvania with the heaviest amounts in the Poconos. Snow began falling during the late afternoon on the 14th and continued into the morning commute on the 15th. Accumulations averaged one to three inches in and around the greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area as well as Berks County. They averaged around five inches in the Lehigh Valley and Carbon County and up to seven inches in Monroe County. Some schools were closed on the 15th in the Poconos. The snow led to slippery traveling conditions especially in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos. In Monroe County, a 56-year-old man was killed on Eastbound Interstate 80 in Jackson Township. His vehicle rolled over and he was ejected. In Northampton County, a woman was critically injured in Lower Nazareth Township after her vehicle struck a pole. Numerous accidents occurred in the Lehigh Valley on Pennsylvania State Routes 33 and 611 and on Interstate 78. A tractor-trailer accident in the northbound lanes of Route 33 closed the roadway north of Wind Gap (Northampton County) just as the snow was arriving. The snow and detoured traffic caused gridlock in and around Wind Gap and on Pennsylvania State Route 191 as tractor-trailers were stuck on hill tops. Several accidents with injuries closed roads in Berks County. The following morning (the 15th) a fatal accident occurred in Tredyffrin Township (Chester County) when a driver lost control of his vehicle on northbound U.S. Route 202, slid across a snow covered median and was struck broadside by a southbound heading vehicle. Elsewhere on U.S. Route 202, a truck crashed into a "Jersey divider" while braking for the stopped traffic from the previous accident. Pieces of the concrete divider struck and damaged two vehicles that were heading in the opposite direction. U.S. Route 202 was closed for nearly six hours.  Specific accumulations included 7.0 inches in Saylorsburg (Monroe County), 6.5 inches in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 5.5 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County), 5.3 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 5.0 inches in Jim Thorpe (Carbon County) and Forks Township (Northampton County), 4.4 inches in Springtown (Bucks County), 2.5 inches in Southampton (Bucks County), 2.0 inches in Reading (Berks County), 1.8 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport, 1.3 inches in Rosemont (Delaware County) and Exton (Chester County) and 1.0 inch in Honey Brook (Chester County). The Alberta Clipper low pressure system moved from Alberta Province Canada on the morning of the 13th into Wisconsin on the morning of the 14th, to central Ohio during the early evening on the 14th, into Chesapeake Bay just after midnight EST on the 15th and about 300 miles east of the Delmarva Peninsula by 10 a.m. EST on the 15th. Precipitation amounts were light, generally less than one quarter of an inch. The unseasonably cold air caused the liquid equivalent to snow ratio to reach as high as 30 to 1 across parts of the Poconos and Lehigh Valley. It normally averages around a 10 to 1 ratio.

Heavy Snow in MONROE, PENNSYLVANIA
From 14-JAN-04 16:00:00 to 15-JAN-04 07:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in BUCKS, PENNSYLVANIA
From 14-JAN-04 17:00:00 to 15-JAN-04 08:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in CARBON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 14-JAN-04 17:00:00 to 15-JAN-04 08:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in LEHIGH, PENNSYLVANIA
From 14-JAN-04 17:00:00 to 15-JAN-04 08:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in NORTHAMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 14-JAN-04 17:00:00 to 15-JAN-04 08:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER