BETHLEHEM, Pa. — High winds and rapidly falling temperatures sent Lehigh Valley residents scurrying indoors Friday as an arctic cold front stormed into the region.
- A cold front is pushing arctic air into the Lehigh Valley, which will send temperatures plummeting
- Wind gusts of up to 55 mph are possible, pushing the wind chill to -15 degrees overnight
- Icy road conditions are expected, and utilities are preparing for potential outages
Conditions are expected to get worse ahead of the holiday weekend. The National Weather Services forecasted wind gusts of 45 mph could rock the region, sending wind chills as low as -15 degrees Friday night into Saturday morning.
And thousands of customers across Lehigh and Northampton counties were already without power Friday afternoon as falling trees and branches downed power lines.
Arctic air from northern Canada is expected to send the mercury plunging in the Lehigh Valley in the hours ahead, said Cameron Wunderlan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, N.J.
The cold front had already started moving through the region as of 10 a.m. Friday, Wunderlan said. Temperatures are expected to fall as much as 6 degrees an hour until they reach about 6 degrees in the Allentown area overnight, he said. Carbon and Monroe counties can expect to see even lower temperatures.
We will be seeing deteriorating conditions as the day goes on today as the cold front moves from west to east. Please send all reports of wind and damage, rain, snow, and coastal flooding to us! 🌬️❄️🌧️
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) December 23, 2022
The arctic cold front will bring wind gusts of up to 55 mph per hour and could result in a rapid freeze throughout the region. Due to the steady rain over the past day, roads could quickly turn icy and hazardous, he said.
"We could see a flash freeze before they have time to drain in those low-lying flooding areas," Wunderlan said.
The tail end of the storm could bring less than an inch of snow to the region, he added.
PennDOT had not issued any travel restrictions or advisories for the region as of 10:30 a.m. Sean Brown, a spokesman for PennDOT District 5, said the department was watching the storm and would respond as needed. Work crews had been moving through the region preparing the roads, he said.
"Every storm is different. We just have to take the conditions as they come," he said.
Utility companies scrambled to keep up with outages by 1:30 p.m. Met-Ed reported on its website that 675 residents — mostly in Easton and Palmer Township — were without power. PPL reported major outages of its own with more than 1,800 in the dark in Emmaus and another 444 without power in the Middletown section of Bethlehem.
A power outage at the Palmer Park Mall in Palmer Township forced the retail center's closure today, stymying last minute shoppers. Boscov's, the anchor store, remained open thanks to power from a backup generator. The Promenade Shoppes at Saucon Valley closed at noon in anticipation of the bad weather.
The situation could grow worse as temperatures drop, which could allow forming ice to weigh down tree limbs. Before the storm, PPL utility advised customers to prepare themselves in case of an outage by readying an emergency kit, checking the batteries on flashlights and charging their phones and electronic devices.
Vicky Kistler, Allentown's director of community and economic development, said the city has been in contact with local homeless shelters. With such low wind chills, frostbite will be a serious concern overnight.
The Allentown Rescue Mission, Salvation Army and the Y Warming Station have all expanded their capacity ahead of the storm, she said. Police will keep an eye out for people without shelter, she said.
"We are extremely fortunate in the city of Allentown that we have great nonprofit partners," Kistler said.
