It’s still days away, but murmurs and rumblings about a possible coastal storm that could affect our area next week have already begun to circulate.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook statement in which it discusses the possiblity of a storm, but discloses few details.
“A coastal storm will likely affect the area Tuesday into Wednesday and may bring strong winds and heavy precipitation,” the NWS said Friday. “However the details and therefore any impacts remain uncertain at this time.”
Lehigh Valley Weather Authority posted on Facebook Friday morning that the possible storm is now on its forecaster’s radar.
“This COULD be a long duration event if depicted correctly on the GFS model,” the post states. “At this point (it’s) too early for specifics, but yet another strong Nor’easter is looking likely in the Tuesday to Thursday time frame.”
According to a NWS graphic LVWA shared, there is currently a 30 to 50 percent chance of snow accumulation of at least three inches in the Lehigh Valley area.
Eastern PA Weather Authority meteorologist Bobby Martrich also discussed the threat of a storm in his daily weather discussion Friday.
“(The storm) could bring snow/mix/rain to the region on Tuesday, and model guidance is all over the place with this system, and that threat now extends into Wednesday,” he wrote. “A complete miss is also on the table, as is a more significant mostly snow event.”
EPWA is predicting colder than normal temperatures for this area through mid-April, which would be a continuation of the current temperature trend that began about two weeks ago.
Pennsylvania Weather Action has yet to discuss the storm on their Facebook page.
Forecasters and followers alike may be skeptical about the possibility of another major storm, after the last one was heavily hyped and turned out to be a ‘bust’ in parts of the area.
If this storm does affect the area with winter weather, it would ironically likely begin on Tuesday, which is the first day of spring.
In the meantime temperatures are expected to be at or below normal, but sunshine will prevail over the weekend, when many people will be taking part in St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
A National Weather Service graphic depicts the probability of at least .25 inch of liquid precipitation in the form of snow and/or sleet falling in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast by Wednesday, March 21.
