![]() ![]() On April 19, 2022, Pottstown witnessed Graupel, which acts like small snow pellets instead of snowflakes. An image comparing some types of frozen precipitation commonly mentioned in Pennsylvania. In northern Pennsylvania, between 8 and 20 inches of snow accumulated, easily setting daily records. On April 19th, 1983 - just one year after the previous storm - about 2 inches of snow fell in Pottstown. These storms are not limited to early April. The storm is the only April snowstorm to make the list of the 66 worst Nor’easters since records began, based on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale. More recently, on April 5-6, 1982, another Nor’easter dropped 3-to-6 inches across the tri-county region, and 6 to 12 inches in the Poconos. However, it is not the only time this has happened. The extremely heavy snow that resulted was a freak occurrence. A lingering arctic air mass, a perfectly timed storm, and a thread-the-needle storm track allowed the cold air to hold strong while heavy precipitation still hammered inland areas. ![]() What made this storm possible? A perfect line-up of factors. Not only this, but average temperatures are in the upper 50s for this time of year. The sun angle in spring, let alone April, makes accumulating snowfall a rare and difficult phenomenon. The ability for this to happen in early April is remarkable. When all was finished, 3,000 workers had to clear the roads in Philadelphia to allow for Easter celebrations to continue the following day. (Image Credit: Library of Congress)Īn 80-mile-per-hour wind gust was recorded along the New Jersey coast, demonstrating the storm’s intensity. Atlantic City received 6.0 inches of snow from the storm. Residents work to clear the Atlantic City Boardwalk on Easter, April 4, 1915, the morning after a Nor’easter pummeled the East Coast. The system also dropped 10.2 inches of snow in New York City and 15.2 inches in Newark, New Jersey, setting new records for the month of April as well. The extreme storm still stands as the borough’s seventh-largest snowstorm of all time. In Philadelphia, a mind-blowing 19.4 inches of snow accumulated over the two days. To the shock of everyone in the region, a massive Nor’easter caused heavy snowfall to spread over the mid-Atlantic. On April 4-5, 1915, Easter looked like it fell in the middle of January. This is a look at the craziest April snowfalls in our area’s history. They are living proof that snowstorms in southeast Pennsylvania are not impossible for this time of year. ![]() So, why is the average not reduced to zero? Satellite imagery depicting the Nor’easter curling around the East Coast on April 19, 2022. We certainly have had more of those than accumulating snow days this April. To the naked eye, however, it appears that 80-degree temperatures are far more likely than snowflakes. Technically, Pottstown averages 0.2 inches of snow accumulation for April. ![]()
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