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Coldest air since 1994 on Saturday morning (1/4/2014)?


famartin

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All of this talk about cold has me reminiscing about my college days at University of Scranton.  We got down to -21F in January 1994, which was the coldest temperature ever recorded in Scranton.  It was a perfectly calm morning with ice needles falling from the sky.  There was at least 2 ft of snow on the ground.  That was a surreal winter in the Poconos and a great stretch of years to be in college (91-95) with a season pass at Montage every year (now called Snow Mountain ??? I think).

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All of this talk about cold has me reminiscing about my college days at University of Scranton.  We got down to -21F in January 1994, which was the coldest temperature ever recorded in Scranton.  It was a perfectly calm morning with ice needles falling from the sky.  There was at least 2 ft of snow on the ground.  That was a surreal winter in the Poconos and a great stretch of years to be in college (91-95) with a season pass at Montage every year (now called Snow Mountain ??? I think).

Thinking back, that was a great stretch for Wayne county. Have never seen so much cold and snow. Wish I could find the film photography.

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Thinking back, that was a great stretch for Wayne county. Have never seen so much cold and snow. Wish I could find the film photography.

It was the only day I've ever seen true ice needles.  They were falling out of crystal blue skies.  The snow depth and duration of coverage was unbelievable that winter.  I remember driving back home to Allentown the end of May that spring and still seeing snowpiles in the shade along the NE extension north of Lake Harmony.

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I remember the -21f in Scranton. I actually measured near -24 imby. I took my wife to work because she was afraid to drive in the cold. I do remember one other cold spell in the early 80's. We lived at the top of one of the mountains and we had a temp of about -20f. We were in one of the pockets where the cold air gathered. I think we had a recorded temp of about -8.

I also remember brutal winds during that cold spell where the temps dropped  low but the wind chills were in the -40f or -40 c range....

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Okay maybe the hospital was in the 1850's prior to the PO building.  Was the PO building when the 'modern' records started in 1871?

Http://www.temple.edu/tempress/chapters_1400/1618_ch1.pdf, page 19, gives the "Location of the Official Philadelphia Weather Observing Site",from 1/1/1871 through at least 1975,  Although Ray already correctly answered the 1934 location question, thought it might be interesting though a bit off topic.

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My memory of the cold outbreak in '94 was seeing my thermometer show -20F. Not sure how accurate it was, being placed on my back porch at the time.(See pic below, it was just like that! lol) Didn't believe it for a long time, til I saw Allentown was -15F, so I figured it was pretty close. Lowest temp I ever witnessed!

post-606-0-68185200-1388597591_thumb.jpg

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My memory of the cold outbreak in '94 was seeing my thermometer show -20F. Not sure how accurate it was, being placed on my back porch at the time.(See pic below, it was just like that! lol) Didn't believe it for a long time, til I saw Allentown was -15F, so I figured it was pretty close. Lowest temp I ever witnessed!

attachicon.gif51HshoA2+WL._AA160_.jpg

At that time I lived close to where I do now in Eastern Berks county, in a small "hill valley" at 800' with 1100' "peaks" around me.  I had -22 on my coldest morning that year, not sure if my thermometer was totally accurate either, but I'd say colder locations in our region of PA probably got to -20 or slightly colder.  I recall Harrisburg being around -20 or -22 that day, no?

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At that time I lived close to where I do now in Eastern Berks county, in a small "hill valley" at 800' with 1100' "peaks" around me.  I had -22 on my coldest morning that year, not sure if my thermometer was totally accurate either, but I'd say colder locations in our region of PA probably got to -20 or slightly colder.  I recall Harrisburg being around -20 or -22 that day, no?

Reading Airport and the old Reading COOP both hit -20.  Blue Marsh Lake recorded -29.  Hopewell was -12.  Hamburg was -19. 

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Reading Airport and the old Reading COOP both hit -20.  Blue Marsh Lake recorded -29.  Hopewell was -12.  Hamburg was -19. 

Thank you for the info.  That -29 is AMAZING for Southeast PA!  I'm impressed with anything below 0 anymore.  After seeing long range weather data going back 100+ years for locations nearby I realize how rare that kind of 1994 cold is....perhaps "volcanic winters" are needed for that type of cold around here.  It looks like we will have a run at below 0 Saturday morning :)  At my current location on the 900' hilltop I don't think I can get as cold as in that little valley.  I moved in 1997, since then the coldest I've seen here is I think -4.5  (or within a tenth or two of that.)  I think that was in 2004. 

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-29? I have a hard time believing this.

Fahrenheit right?

Those temps are ridiculous.

I'm in the area you're speaking of, and could not fathom that happening here.

Well the -20~-22 readings have come from many sources, so I'm sure they're real.  Perhaps it was a -19 typo....  I'm not so sure it wasn't possible though, perhaps the location of the lake down low between the Reading Prong and Blue Mountain allowed it maximum cooling.  One things for sure, I do not believe we can get colder than that day in this area short of a new ice age or wicked volcanic winter!  Pinatubo did blow its top a few years prior to that winter.......

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At that time I lived close to where I do now in Eastern Berks county, in a small "hill valley" at 800' with 1100' "peaks" around me.  I had -22 on my coldest morning that year, not sure if my thermometer was totally accurate either, but I'd say colder locations in our region of PA probably got to -20 or slightly colder.  I recall Harrisburg being around -20 or -22 that day, no?

MDT hit -22, indeed.
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