Ready PA Monthly - February 2025

Punxsutawney Phil has made his prediction, but whether he saw his shadow or not, we know winter isn’t over just yet! While we dream of warmer days ahead, it's important to stay prepared for winter’s lingering surprises. So, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, here are some winter weather safety tips we love to help keep you safe and sound!

❤️ Pack Your Winter Emergency Travel Kit.
Show yourself some love by keeping a fully stocked emergency kit in your vehicle. Even if spring is on the horizon, winter weather can still throw a few surprises our way. Ensure your car is stocked with essentials, including:
   - Flashlight and extra batteries
   - Cell phone and charger
   - Snow shovel
   - Jumper cables
   - Blanket
   - Battery-operated radio

Need a more detailed checklist? Check out Ready PA’s Build a Kit for Your Vehicle here.

❤️ Shine Bright, But Not Too Bright!
Navigating winter roads means knowing when to use low beams vs. high beams. While high beams seem like a bright idea, they actually reflect off snow, fog, and ice, making visibility worse. Instead, stick with low beams to see and be seen safely. For more winter driving guidance, check out PennDOT’s Winter Driving Guide here.

❤️ Don’t Let Cruise Control Break Your Heart!
Cruise control and snowy roads are not a match made in heaven! Using cruise control on slick roads can increase the risk of skidding. If your car starts to slip, cruise control can actually make it worse by keeping the wheels spinning. For safer winter driving tips, visit PennDOT here.

Winter may still have a few tricks up its sleeve, but with these safety tips, you’ll be ready for whatever comes your way. Stay safe and spread the love by sharing these tips with family and friends! ❤️🚗

No matter how you describe it—“feels-like temperature,” “apparent temperature,” or just plain cold—Pennsylvania winters can be brutal! And this past January, we got a serious reminder of that. From January 20th to 24th, we experienced the coldest air in seven years. Temperatures remained in the single digits for daily highs, while overnight lows fell well below zero over multiple nights in a row.

Now, if you add in wind, things feel even colder. A strong northwesterly breeze made those “apparent temperatures” plunge into the negative teens and twenties—definitely not weather you want to be caught outside in for too long.

The National Weather Service (NWS) is always on top of alerting when temperatures make it dangerous to be outside, even for a short time. Sometimes, this danger also comes with wintry precipitation.

What, then, should the priority be: alert for the potential for a few inches of snow, or for the potential of extremely low temperatures? To make cold weather alerts clearer and easier to understand—whether it's freezing temperatures or wind chill—the NWS has updated its alerts:

Several of these new alerts were issued for the first time during the week of January 20th. The conditions for watches and warnings vary slightly depending on where you are in Pennsylvania.

So, even though it’s been a bit, it can still get dangerously cold around here!  We hope these new terms make weather alerts easier to understand. For more information, visit the National Weather Service advisory/watch/warning page here.

There’s something happening on our rivers that you might not have noticed—ice, and lots of it! During cold snaps, ice forms on rivers, creeks, and streams. As it floats downstream, it can get stuck at bends, bridge pillars, or where smaller waterways meet larger ones. When that happens, it creates what’s called an ice jam—a natural dam that blocks water from flowing freely. And that can lead to flooding, especially if rain or melting snow adds even more water to the mix.

This past January, Pennsylvania saw a deep freeze, with several days and nights of below-freezing temperatures. That gave river ice plenty of time to form and start moving. By the end of the month, ice jams had already been reported on rivers like the Monongahela in western PA and the Susquehanna in the northeast.

Now, here’s where things can get tricky. When temperatures warm up, snow melts, and rain falls, ice jams can suddenly break loose. That can cause rapid flooding downstream, often with little to no warning. This isn’t just a theory—it’s happened before. One of Pennsylvania’s worst ice jam floods hit in 1996, when a major snowstorm dumped over two feet of snow. Just a week later, warm temperatures and rain melted it all at once, leading to devastating floods.

So, as the weather changes, keep an eye on both the sky and the water. If you live near a river, be aware of rising water levels and have a plan in case of sudden flooding. Stay safe and stay Ready PA!