BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Forecasters say a nuisance storm that swept through the Lehigh Valley on Monday could have been an appetizer to a bigger system this weekend.
But just like Monday, which offered little in terms of intense snowfall, Saturday’s wintry weather could essentially be a non-event for much of the region, the National Weather Service said.
“Guidance has congealed more closely around the weak/southern low track" of the storm, the latest NWS forecast discussion said.
It means only a bit of light snow could affect the area, associated more with a northern piece of energy, the weather service said.
Forecasters say accumulations at best look like an inch or two for the region, with highs returning to the 30s for Saturday as clouds break for sun later in the day.
Why big storm chances dissolved
The storm in question will form along the Gulf Coast of Texas late Thursday night, forecasters said. It’s expected to sweep across the northern Gulf Coast, bringing winter storm watches to places like Atlanta.
Far north Georgia could see 3 to 6 inches from the storm, meteorologists said, but it won’t take a favorable track to bring significant snowfall to our area.
That scenario is off the table, it seems, with the track projected to take the system northeastward along the coast of the Carolinas before steering it offshore.
The end result would be a few inches of snow for the Lehigh Valley.
Wait. No blockbuster storm?
Social media has been awash in screenshots of model runs showing a massive East Coast storm with ridiculous snow amounts.
But models were never locked in on that scenario, which would have required the storm to merge with a disturbance entering the northeast from Canada.
“For those of you who are looking for this big, wrapped up storm along the coast, that’s probably not happening,” EPAWA meteorologist Bobby Martrich said in his latest video update Wednesday.
Martrich said it’s not something he’s “writing off entirely,” but said the probability of a bigger coastal storm probably is about 10% and dwindling.
“It’s on life support,” Martrich said of the likelihood of a more significant storm. We have observed data, not just modeling data."
Martrich said observed data now is being ingested into the models, which results in predictions for temperature, precipitation and hundreds of other meteorological elements associated with the storm.
Martrich said the clear trends push the storm south and east of the region, bringing us “some snow on Saturday, just not a lot.”
Based on the response to our Blizzard of 96 post, it seems there's a subset of people who are really eager for a big storm. Unfortunately for them, that looks unlikely for the next 1-2 weeks, with just light snow likely this weekend. But fear not, odds increase late in the month. pic.twitter.com/7ZD0XoWQGy
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) January 8, 2025
And the NWS Mount Holly forecast office, which shared a tongue-in-cheek graphic Tuesday noting "0 to 40" inches possible Saturday (in a post that was later deleted) put a new forecast graphic out Wednesday.
The official forecast is 1 to 2 inches in the Allentown area.
Based on the response to our Blizzard of 96 post, it seems there's a subset of people who are really eager for a big storm. Unfortunately for them, that looks unlikely for the next 1-2 weeks, with just light snow likely this weekend. But fear not, odds increase late in the month. pic.twitter.com/7ZD0XoWQGy
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) January 8, 2025
