The combination of a high pressure system over nearby Canada and a pair of low pressure systems - one that moved into the Great Lakes before dissipating and another that formed over the Virginia coastal waters gave Eastern Pennsylvania a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow. Heavy snow fell from Berks County and the Lehigh Valley northward. Some spotty light freezing drizzle or freezing rain fell throughout most of the day on the 27th. During the second half of the same afternoon as a low pressure system was forming over the Virginia coastal waters, precipitation intensity increased and heavier freezing rain and sleet began falling across the area. The exception was in the Poconos where precipitation started and continued as snow. As colder air moved in from the wintry mix changed to all snow around 6 p.m. EST in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley and between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. EST (From northwest to southeast) across southeastern Pennsylvania. The heaviest snow fell during the evening. Snowfall accumulations were averaging one to two inches per hour in the Poconos. The snow ended just before sunrise on the 28th, but lingered into the afternoon in the Poconos. Accumulations averaged between 2 and 6 inches with higher amounts in the Poconos. Untreated roads were slippery and numerous accidents occurred. In Delaware County, there was an increase in the number of slip and fall pedestrian accidents. In Berks County, several tractor-trailer accidents on Interstate 78 closed the roadway for several hours. The worst accident involved two tractor-trailers. One trailer was struck by another on Westbound Interstate 78 near Hamburg after it slowed down for poor road conditions. Both drivers were hospitalized. The westbound lanes of Interstate 78 were closed for five hours.  A five vehicle crash closed U.S. Route 422 for one hour in Douglass Township. In Monroe County, three vehicle crashes caused injuries as they struck either trees or guy wires. In Carbon County, five persons were injured with two Sports Utility Vehicles slid into each other in Lehighton. Many schools were closed for three days (the 26th through the 28th) in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos. Specific accumulations included 7.5 inches in Penn Forest Township (Carbon County) and East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 7.1 inches in Middle Smithfield Township (Monroe County), 7.0 inches in Jim Thorpe (Carbon County), 7.0 inches in Upper Milford Township (Lehigh County), 6.0 inches in Fredericksville (Berks County), 5.6 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 5.5 inches in Furlong (Bucks County), 5.3 inches in Phoenixville (Chester County), 5.2 inches in Williams Township (Northampton County), 5.0 inches in Fleetwood (Berks County), Green Lane (Montgomery County) and Perkasie (Bucks County), 4.0 inches in Newtown Square (Delaware County), 3.8 inches in Trappe (Montgomery County), 3.5 inches in Levittown (Bucks County) and Conshohocken (Montgomery County), 3.0 inches in Media (Delaware County), 2.8 inches in Exton (Chester County) and 1.6 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport. While the first low pressure system was heading off the North Carolina coast around sunrise on the 26th, another low pressure system was already in Arkansas. This low pressure system moved northeast into the lower Ohio Valley during the afternoon of the 26th and reached Ohio around sunrise on the 27th. The low moved north into Michigan during the afternoon of the 27th and remained nearly stationary as it slowly weakened during the evening and overnight. This low pressure system brought a wedge of warmer air aloft across the region. What made precipitation fall as either freezing rain or sleet was a large high pressure system over nearby Canada that fed cold air south near the surface. During the late afternoon of the 27th, a second low pressure system formed over the Virginia coastal waters. By 7 p.m. EST when it was located near the Virginia Capes, its central pressure was already as strong as the Michigan low pressure system. The Virginia low pressure system moved northeast and intensified and by 1 a.m. EST on the 28th, was located about 120 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey and by 7 a.m. EST it was about 240 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey. As this second low pressure system intensified and its upper air support moved across the Middle Atlantic States, precipitation intensity increased further and the precipitation changed to snow.

Winter Storm in BERKS, PENNSYLVANIA
From 27-JAN-04 15:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 05:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in CARBON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 27-JAN-04 18:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 15:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in LEHIGH, PENNSYLVANIA
From 27-JAN-04 17:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 06:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in MONROE, PENNSYLVANIA
From 27-JAN-04 18:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 15:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in NORTHAMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 27-JAN-04 18:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 07:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in BUCKS, PENNSYLVANIA
From 27-JAN-04 15:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 06:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA
From 27-JAN-04 15:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 06:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in DELAWARE, PENNSYLVANIA
From 27-JAN-04 15:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 06:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in MONTGOMERY, PENNSYLVANIA
From 27-JAN-04 15:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 06:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
From 27-JAN-04 15:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 06:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER