HARRISBURG, Pa. — It’s time for another Weather Rewind, where we look back at this past week’s weather, with a twist.
This week, we’re looking back at feet of snow out west in the Southern California mountains and the massive cleanup it left behind.
Snow is common out west through a good portion of the spring, but we can get some snow too, particularly in March.
LET'S REWIND
Back-to-back winter storms buried homes and businesses under several feet of snow since the end of last week in Southern California’s mountain communities.
Officials were left with quite the cleanup, working around the clock to plow roads and dig people out.
Many went without power for almost a week—running low on supplies like food and medicine.
Some are still without power and are lacking necessary items. Fears of gas leaks and roof collapses added onto the lingering dangers.
The National Guard stepped in, delivering supplies to some hard-to-reach homes.
County firefighters evacuated medically vulnerable people for fear they might run out of medicine.
It’s common to see snow out west through the spring.
Here in central Pennsylvania, it’s less common, but bigger “snow-prises” can still happen in March!
Let’s take a look!
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Harrisburg averages 5.6” of snow for the entire month of March.
In recent years, we haven’t been too lucky with big snows, but some big, East Coast snowstorms in mid-March have impacted us!
Here are some of the more notable ones over the decades.
Most recently in 2018, a hefty 14.2 inches fell on Harrisburg from the 20th to the 21st.
This was a near repeat of 2017, where a mid-March snow graced the Capital City with 17.2 inches of snow and surrounding areas with similar amounts.
In March of 2007, 9.5 inches of snow was recorded.
Let’s go way back to March of 1958, when 8.7 inches fell in Harrisburg, and Lancaster got about 13 inches.
Was one skipped? Oh yes! The biggest and best was saved for last—the Blizzard of ‘93!
I’m sure many remember this one, so we’ll spend a little more time on it!
From March 12 to March 14, what was called the “storm of the century” slammed the East Coast.
Major cities along the I-95 corridor were walloped with 10 to 20 inches of snow!
Twenty to 30 inches buried more interior areas, from here in central Pennsylvania to the Appalachian Mountains.
Some locally higher amounts outside of our area received more than 30 inches!
Harrisburg fell in the middle of it all at 20.3 inches!
On Monday, it will be the 30th anniversary of this bad boy.
Stay tuned for all the “whys” behind the weather wonders that capture our attention each week.