Winter Weather Advisory Issued, Power Outages Possible, NWS Warns

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for the Lehigh Valley late Monday afternoon, declaring in a statement that “a significant snow storm (will) affect the area Tuesday into Wednesday.”

“A nor’easter will force very hazardous travel and potential power outages through tomorrow night from heavy wet snow accumulations across the Poconos, the Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey,” the NWS said.

According to the statement, precipitation will begin Monday night as a mixture of freezing rain, sleet and snow.

A changeover to rain is forecast for most locations Tuesday, by the time the winter weather advisory expires at 10 a.m.

The popular online weather forecasting service Eastern PA Weather Authority announced on its Facebook page Monday afternoon that it will post a “final call” map for the major storm at 8 p.m.

“There will be two maps with the final call: one for expected snow and rain amounts and ranges by location, and a second for a more pressing concern in the near future, which would be expectations of sleet and freezing rain overnight tonight into tomorrow morning,” EPAWA said.

On its Facebook page, the Lehigh Valley Weather Authority has posted a map that shows a 1 to 2 inch snowfall band across the southern Lehigh Valley and a 2 to 4 inch band across northern parts of the area.

However, the LVWA warned that it is a “very tricky forecast with HIGH bust potential either way.”

The snowfall totals on the map are “combined from what falls tonight and what falls Tuesday night/Wednesday,” it said.

Wind gusts over 40 mph, heavy rain and heavy snow “may cause power outages and flooding” and Tuesday morning’s commute to work and school could be “tricky,” the LVWA cautioned.

North of the Lehigh Valley, in the higher terrain of the Pocono mountains, winter storm warnings are in effect for as much as 9 inches of snow in parts of Monroe and Carbon counties.