With wet conditions now in the forecast for Thursday and Friday, a white Christmas at this point looks possible only with a little help from Santa and his elves.
The weather that is now forecast for the final days before Christmas will make things like traveling easier, but for those hoping for a white Christmas, it certainly won’t be ideal.
Although meteorologists late last week predicted that a Nor’easter might form off the southeast coast and then dump snow across eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other parts of the northeastern United States, that forecast turned out to be inaccurate.
Parts of the Midwest are now expected to receive the blizzard-like conditions that were briefly promised here, and most the Northeast is now expected to be inundated by rain.
According to the latest National Weather Service forecast for Allentown, the rain may briefly mix with snow when it starts Thursday, but there will be little or no accumulation.
One to two inches of rain and windy conditions are expected Thursday night, and an additional inch of rain could fall Friday before the storm system moves out of the area.
In its wake, temperature readings that are well below normal are expected for the holiday weekend.
Temperatures are forecast to crash Friday, falling from the low 50s to the low teens by Friday night. The forecast high on Saturday is just 21 degrees, and Christmas Day won’t be much warmer if the current predictions are accurate. The National Weather Service is forecasting a high of 24 degrees in the Lehigh Valley, with a low of 12 on Christmas night.
Following the brief warmup Thursday and Friday, temperatures won’t climb above the freezing mark again until at least Tuesday, when a high of 35 degrees is currently forecast.
There is a 40 percent of snow showers Friday evening as the Arctic air infiltrates the area.
So if you’re hoping for a white Christmas there’s still a slight chance that the ground will be covered in time for Christmas Eve day, although it likely won’t be by very much snow.
