If you don’t have milk, bread and eggs stockpiled for the early spring storm that is forecast to dump up to six inches of snow on the area overnight Sunday and Monday, you just might be out of luck.
Most local supermarkets are closed in observance of Easter, as are state stores and most other businesses. Most convenience stores, however, are open.
According to the latest National Weather Service forecast, the Lehigh Valley can expect to receive three to five inches of snow, with up to six inches possible in isolated locations.
The NWS has issued a winter weather advisory for the entire area for the storm, which is expected to move in shortly after midnight and move out by noon on Monday.
During that time, snow could fall moderately to heavily, with “snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour (possible) at times between about 4 and 9 a.m. Monday,” according to the advisory.
The morning commute may be complicated by the snow, although most of it is expected to melt by later in the day, when temperatures will rise well into the 40s. Schools will remain closed Monday for the Easter holiday.
By Wednesday, above average high temperatures in the low 60s are expected, along with the possibility of heavy thunderstorms.
Then, towards the end of the week, temperatures are forecast to tumble to below average levels again, and there will be another opportunity for mixed precipitation and/or snow, forecasters say.
Lehigh Valley Weather Authority is also predicting total accumulation of 3 to 6 inches across the area early Monday, with a swath of moderate to heavy snow stretching from south central Pennsylvania east into New Jersey.
Accumulating snow in April is unusual in this area, but not unheard of.
According to an April snowfall record chart shared by the weather page, the storm could rank among the top five greatest April snowstorms if more than 4.6 inches of snow is recorded at Lehigh Valley International Airport.
The biggest April snowfall occurred back in 1982, when more than 13 inches of snow was measured following a freak storm. But as recently as 2003 Allentown recorded a four-inch snowfall in the month of April.
“A potentially big nor’easter…next weekend…would shatter all these records if it pans out how it was shown on today’s models,” LVWA noted.
