Winter Storm Could Bring Snow, Sleet, Ice to Area

To borrow a turn of phrase from the beloved holiday tune “Let It Snow,” the weather outside today may be delightful, but the day after Christmas it could be downright frightful. That’s according to National Weather Service meteorologists, who on Wednesday issued a winter storm watch for the Lehigh Valley and other parts of eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey for Friday afternoon through Saturday morning.

According to an accompanying statement, an approaching winter storm is expected to deposit a mixed bag of frozen precipitation during that timeframe, including snow, sleet and freezing rain.

The National Weather Service said Northampton and Lehigh counties could see total snow accumulations of 4 to 6 inches, plus two tenths of an inch of ice, all of which could significantly affect mobility on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

According to NWS images shared as part of a forecast discussion for the storm, areas north and east of the Lehigh Valley–including the eastern Poconos, northern New Jersey and New York City–are likely to see the greatest snowfall totals from the storm. Those totals could exceed 8 inches in places like Pike County. A north-south corridor that extends from near Hazleton south through the Lehigh Valley and Reading to the Philadelphia area could see mostly sleet, meteorologists said Wednesday.

“Exact forecast totals remain very uncertain, but confidence in widespread wintry precip is near 100 percent,” the NWS Mount Holly office said in a post on its Facebook page. “Travel disruptions are likely starting Friday afternoon into early Saturday…”

Friday’s forecast stood in stark contrast to the weather on Christmas Eve, when under sunny skies temperatures climbed into the upper 40s. Christmas Day will also be sunny, with a high of around 43 in the Allentown area, according to the forecast.

Residents should continue to monitor local news and weather platforms for the latest updates on the developing storm.