Quick update on upcoming events
It's Thursday evening here, and a bit of light snow approaches from the west. Flurries should begin to fall around here by about 8pm and intensify into a period of light snow in the overnight hours. The event will end by 2am or so, but roads could be coated with a thin covering of snow, which could be a bit slick in places. Total accumulations will be only be a coating to a half-inch, but here is my call for winter weather school disruptions:
55% delay Friday
15% cancellation Friday
These are panels from a forecast model addressing Saturday's event. The right panel indicates precipitation; the left panel indicates surface temperature. Note that the pink line, which denotes the freezing mark, cuts right through Berks on Saturday evening. As I note below, it's going to be a close call in terms of precipitation type and timing...
The Saturday event is looking more and more interesting. Snow arrives around midnight Friday night and continues through Saturday morning, tapering toward late afternoon, when it will likely mix with some rain. We could even see a bit of light snow and sleet linger into Saturday evening as temperatures drop back below freezing. Total accumulations will be right around 3 inches in this area with snow to ice and rain south and east. Areas north of us, including Allentown, State College, Scranton, and the Poconos, could see 4+ inches from this event. The wildcard here is the warmer air coming in from the south and east: how far north it creeps and how warm it gets will potentially impact the totals and precipitation types here, so stay tuned...
The next wintry weather potential on the horizon doesn't come in until January 31st - February 1st.