A late winter storm dropped heavy snow in the Poconos and Northampton County, a wintry mix in Berks and Lehigh Counties and snow to rain across the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area on the 16th. Numerous accidents occurred with one known fatality. Even after precipitation stopped, black ice formed the morning of the 17th and caused more traffic accidents with at least one other fatality. Snow spread from south to north during the morning of the 16th. As warmer air moved in from the Atlantic Ocean, precipitation changed to rain in the greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area during the early afternoon of the 16th. Farther inland across upper sections of Chester, Montgomery and Bucks Counties as well as in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley, a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain fell from the middle of the afternoon into the early evening before it ended in the northern Philadelphia Suburbs. Across Berks County and the Lehigh Valley, precipitation changed back to snow during the early evening before it ended later that evening on the 16th. In the Poconos, precipitation fell mainly as snow, as some sleet occurred during the afternoon. The snow ended shortly after midnight EST on the 17th. Accumulations ranged from two to eight inches, with the highest amounts in Northampton County and the Poconos. Scattered power outages also occurred. Most were caused by vehicles striking poles. Many schools dismissed children early from the Philadelphia suburbs north. After school academic and sports programs were cancelled. The worst reported accidents were in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley. In Berks County, a 53-year-old man died in Upper Bern Township when he lost control of his pickup truck on westbound Interstate 78, hit the center barrier, spun out of control and was hit by a tractor-trailer. Elsewhere in Berks County, a 21-year-old female driver was critically injured when her car collided with a tractor-trailer on Pennsylvania State Route 61 in Perry Township. A driver was extricated from a five vehicle crash site on U.S. Route 422 in Douglass Township. A school bus in Boyertown skidded off a road and struck some tree limbs. No children were injured. In Earl, a school bus crashed into some tree limbs and one boy suffered a head injury. In Buckingham Township (Bucks County), a bus skidded into a ditch, but the children were not hurt. In Haycock Township (Bucks County), a woman drove into a tree that was knocked down by the weight of the snow and ice. As bad as traffic was during the snow, more serious accidents occurred the next morning when black ice formed. In Bristol Township (Bucks County), a 32-year-old man died on Interstate 95 after his vehicle skidded uncontrollably near the Neshaminy Creek Bridge and slammed into the corner of a flatbed truck. Five persons were injured, one critically in an eight vehicle accident on U.S. Route 1 in Middletown (Township). The road was closed for two and a half hours. In North Coventry Township (Chester County), a five vehicle accident on Pennsylvania State Route 100 caused two serious injuries.Specific accumulations included 8.0 inches in Williams Township (Northampton County), 7.5 inches in Albrightsville (Carbon County), 7.2 inches in Saylorsburg (Monroe County) and Springtown (Bucks County), 7.1 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County), 7.0 inches in Lansford (Carbon County), 6.4 inches in Easton (Northampton County), 6.3 inches in Camelback (Monroe County), 6.0 inches in Fredericksville (Berks County), 5.5 inches in Pocono Summit (Monroe County), 5.1 inches in Trappe (Montgomery County), 5.0 inches in Palm (Montgomery County) and Hamburg (Berks County) and Salisbury (Lehigh County), 4.6 inches in Wyomissing (Berks County),  4.5 inches in Sellersville (Bucks County), 4.4 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 4.0 inches in Perkasie (Bucks County), 3.9 inches in Phoenixville (Chester County), 3.4 inches in Downingtown (Chester County), 3.0 inches in Neshaminy (Bucks County), 2.8 inches in Conshohocken (Montgomery County), 2.1 inches in Valley Forge (Chester County) and 1.8 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport.    The low pressure system responsible for the snow moved from the Central Plains the morning of the 15th, east to Kansas City, Missouri during the early evening of the 15th, moved through the Tennessee Valley during the first half of the day on the 16th and reached West Virginia during the early afternoon of the 16th. A secondary low pressure system then developed on the low's warm front near Norfolk, Virginia and became the primary low pressure system by early in the evening on the 16th when it was just east of Wallops Island, Virginia. The secondary low pressure system moved quickly offshore and was southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts by 1 a.m. EST on the 17th.

Winter Storm in CARBON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 16-MAR-04 09:00:00 to 17-MAR-04 02:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in MONROE, PENNSYLVANIA
From 16-MAR-04 09:00:00 to 17-MAR-04 02:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in BERKS, PENNSYLVANIA
From 16-MAR-04 06:00:00 to 16-MAR-04 22:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in BUCKS, PENNSYLVANIA
From 16-MAR-04 06:00:00 to 16-MAR-04 16:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA
From 16-MAR-04 06:00:00 to 16-MAR-04 15:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in DELAWARE, PENNSYLVANIA
From 16-MAR-04 06:00:00 to 16-MAR-04 12:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in LEHIGH, PENNSYLVANIA
From 16-MAR-04 06:00:00 to 16-MAR-04 22:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in MONTGOMERY, PENNSYLVANIA
From 16-MAR-04 06:00:00 to 16-MAR-04 15:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in NORTHAMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 16-MAR-04 06:00:00 to 16-MAR-04 22:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
From 16-MAR-04 06:00:00 to 16-MAR-04 12:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER