UPDATE (Jan. 27): The Borough of Hellertown has announced that the snow emergency in effect since Friday, Jan. 22 at 9 p.m. will be lifted at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. “Public works crews will continue to remove snow the remainder of the week,” the announcement said.
In advance of a winter storm that is forecast to drop at least six inches of snow on the area this weekend, Hellertown borough and Lower Saucon Township officials have declared snow emergencies that will take effect late Friday and early Saturday.
This snow emergency sign is posted along Magnolia Road in Hellertown.
Hellertown’s snow emergency will begin at 9 p.m. Friday and continue until further notice.
Parking along the borough’s designated snow emergency routes will be banned while the snow emergency is in effect.
Click here for a list of the roads that are designated snow emergency routes.
General information about snow removal in Hellertown can be found on the borough’s website.
In Lower Saucon Township, the snow emergency will begin at midnight Saturday and remain in effect until 6 p.m. Sunday.
Since there are few main roads with on-street parking, a snow emergency in Lower Saucon Township is essentially a technical designation. However, a parking ban will be in effect on the township’s cul-de-sacs, dead end streets and other designated areas to help facilitate snow removal.
“We enourage you to stay off the roadways during the storm to allow the public works departments to safely clear the roadways,” the township police department said in a statement posted on its Facebook page. “Please do not throw or plow your snow into the roadways. Also assist your fire department by shoveling out the fire hydrants at or near your house.”
The Saucon Valley is under a winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service for total snow accumulations of 6 to 10 inches and gusty winds which it said could cause power outages, especially if the snow sticks to tree limbs and wires as it is expected to.
Heavy snow combined with gusty winds could make travel difficult if not impossible Saturday, according to weather forecasters.
“Snow is expected to begin late (Friday) evening and overnight…then continue heavy at times before tapering off by early Sunday morning,” the NWS said, adding that travel may become “very hazardous or impossible” during the storm.
Just south of the Saucon Valley, upper Bucks County is under a winter storm warning for 10 to 18 inches of snow, and points further south are forecast to receive two feet or more.
Although the NWS has backed away from its earlier prediction of 8 to 14 inches of snow, other forecasters are now predicting higher snowfall totals for the Saucon Valley than they were yesterday.
For example, on their “final call” map released at noon Friday, Eastern PA Weather Authority put the southern portions of Northampton and Lehigh counties within an east-west band where it predicts 10 to 15 inches of snow with locally higher amounts will fall. On Thursday the popular weather website was calling for 6 to 12 inches for the Lehigh Valley.
East Coast Weather Watch on its Facebook page released a forecast map that shows the Lehigh Valley in an 8 to 12-inch snowfall band.
Channel 69 News is predicting the Lehigh Valley will see 6 to 12 inches of snow, with lesser amounts to the north and greater amounts to the south.
How much snow do you think the Saucon Valley will receive from this storm? Tell us by posting a comment.
