A snowfall forecast map for eastern Pennsylvania issued Monday by the National Weather Service at Mount Holly as part of a media briefing on the storm.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for the Lehigh Valley for a winter storm that could bring heavy snow Wednesday.
The winter storm watch includes Northampton, Lehigh, Upper Bucks and Upper Montgomery counties, as well as points north and east.
According to the watch statement, “there is the potential for up to 4 to 8 inches of snow, with locally higher amounts” across eastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey from Tuesday evening through late Wednesday night.
The NWS said residents should plan for difficult travel conditions due to snow covered roads and reduced visibility.
“Heavy wet snow may bring down tree limbs and utility wires, resulting in some power outages,” the statement said.
Much of the area is still recovering from a Nor’easter that deposited about 6 inches of heavy, wet snow on the area Friday. The combination of saturated ground, snow and strong winds brought down numerous trees and power lines, and resulted in widespread power outages. At one point more than 1,000 Saucon Valley residents were without electricity.
A winter storm watch means there is the potential for significant snow that may impact travel.
The National Weather Service noted in its initial media briefing about the storm that its forecast is “a low confidence forecast and snowfall amounts are subject to change.”
Area residents should continue to monitor forecasts for updates on this developing storm. The NWS at Mount Holly can be followed on Twitter and Facebook.
The weather forecasting Facebook page, Lehigh Valley Weather Authority, had this to say about the possibility of the storm impacting our area:
This is a classic ‘Miller B’ storm, meaning a primary storm system comes across the midwest, and transfers its energy to a secondary system off the east coast.
These storms can be tricky, and a low transfer has to happen at just the right time and place but these types of storms generally bring significant snows from Philadelphia to Maine.
At this point, exact details have yet to be ironed out, but a snow event is expected for most of our area, with the exception of central PA as of now. Estimated time frame is LATE Tuesday Night into Late Wednesday Night.
A first call snow map will be issued by Lehigh Valley Weather Authority at 5 p.m. Monday.
Pennsylvania Weather Action noted in a forecast statement Sunday that “there will be a sharp cutoff to the western edge of the precipitation shield from this storm system. Where exactly this cutoff sets up, will determine how much snow our coverage area will see.”
