As Sunday’s snowstorm approached, residents in Berks and across southeastern Pennsylvania were urged to brace for a potentially crippling winter blast.
Headlines echoed National Weather Service warnings that the nor’easter could be “potentially historic” and “crippling,” bringing blizzard-like conditions from early Sunday into Monday afternoon.
A man shovels the sidewalk in the first block of Clymer Street in Reading on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
By Sunday afternoon, however, with nary a flake falling in Berks, forecasters began tempering their predictions locally. A blizzard warning remained in effect for Philadelphia-area counties — including the eastern half of Montgomery County — and most of New Jersey, but Berks appeared increasingly likely to see less impact.
By then, school districts in Berks had already canceled in-person classes for Monday. County leaders announced offices and courts would close, and many municipal offices followed suit.
A Reading Public Works employee clears the walkway on the Lawrence J. Deisher Memorial Bridge, also known as the Lindbergh Viaduct, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, following a less-than expected snowfall. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
When light snow began around 4 p.m. Sunday, the revised forecast of 5 to 8 inches in Berks already seemed doubtful.
What materialized instead was a fairly ordinary winter storm, delivering a few inches of wet, slushy snow. Snow brushes proved more useful than shovels.
Thanks in part to pretreatment by road crews Sunday night, pavement on Routes 222, 422 and 183 was mostly clear by Monday morning. Traffic, however, was only a fraction of normal.
Snow removal in the first block of Endlich Avenue in Mount Penn on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
According to FirstEnergy’s website, a total of 464 Met-Ed customers in Berks, mostly in Exeter Township, were without power as of 10 a.m.
Reports to the National Weather Service showed these totals in Berks:
• Reading Regional Airport (Bern Township), 2.6 inches
• Blandon, 3.5 inches
• Mertztown, 4.3 inches
• Birdsboro, 4.8 inches
• Huffs Church, 7.7 inches
Elsewhere, the storm packed more punch. Double-digit snowfall totals were recorded as predicted in Philadelphia, lower Bucks and eastern Montgomery counties after the system tracked farther east than earlier forecasts suggested. Fairless Hills received 18 inches, while Levittown saw 15.
New Jersey bore the brunt. Nearly every county, from Cape May to Sussex, reported double-digit totals, with as much as 1½ feet recorded in several locations.