{"id":316887,"date":"2026-10-29T12:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T12:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/316887\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T12:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T12:58:09","slug":"remembering-pennsylvanias-oct-29-2011-snowstorm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/316887\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Pennsylvania’s Oct. 29, 2011, snowstorm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RachaelSUSQUEHANNA VALLEY, Pa. \u2014<\/p>\n

With Halloween decorations on display and autumn leaves still clinging to branches, winter arrived ahead of schedule. <\/p>\n

Video above: Footage from the Oct. 29, 2011, snowstorm. <\/p>\n

Fifteen years ago today, an unusually early winter storm swept through the Susquehanna Valley, turning an October weekend into a scene more fitting for January, and leaving widespread damage behind. <\/p>\n

October 2011 snowstorm <\/p>\n

The Oct. 29, 2011, nor’easter brought approximately 3 to 8 inches of snow to southern and eastern Pennsylvania, according to the National Weather Service in State College. Some locations received more, with the highest amounts on ridge tops. <\/p>\n

The storm strengthened rapidly as it moved just offshore along the East Coast late Oct. 28 and into Oct. 29. <\/p>\n

But snowfall totals told only part of the story. <\/p>\n

Widespread damage <\/p>\n

Many trees still held their leaves, giving the wet snow more surface area to cling to and adding weight to branches. <\/p>\n

Combined with gusty winds, that burden brought down trees and power lines. More than 400,000 homes and businesses across Pennsylvania lost electricity, according to the NWS.<\/p>\n

In the Susquehanna Valley, the storm also caused dozens of crashes and left residents contending with downed trees and darkened homes. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

National Weather Service<\/p>\n

Snowfall map on Oct. 29, 2011<\/p>\n

\"\"Historic nor’easter<\/p>\n

The timing made the storm especially memorable. Before October had ended, residents were dealing with the kinds of disruptions usually associated with the heart of winter.<\/p>\n

Now, on its 15th anniversary, the storm remains a chilling chapter in the Susquehanna Valley’s weather history, a Halloween fright delivered not by ghosts or goblins, but by snow-laden trees and snapping branches. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY, Pa. \u2014 With Halloween decorations on display and autumn leaves still clinging to branches, winter arrived…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10401,7753,732,86,103,129144,28,30,29,12883,25973,6740,2483,5382,17406,9653,78],"class_list":["post-316887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-branch","tag-electricity","tag-halloween","tag-home","tag-oct","tag-october-weekend","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-resident","tag-snowstorm","tag-storm","tag-susquehanna-valley","tag-tree","tag-widespread-damage","tag-winter","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}