Flights grounded, buses halted in an icy start for Lehigh Valley, with a warning of ‘more wintry weather ahead’

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain grounded airplanes and halted public transit in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday.

United and Allegiant flights were among those canceled at Lehigh Valley International Airport, which issued a travel advisory and encouraged passengers to contact their airline for additional information or visit https://www.flyabe.com.

Trans-Bridge Lines suspended morning service because of commercial vehicle restrictions on major highways.

Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority also put the brakes on its services for the day, including LANtaBus, LANtaFlex and LANtaVan, because of weather, and the state Transportation Department reduced speed limits to 45 mph on:

• Interstate 78 in Berks, Lehigh, and Northampton counties
• Interstate 80 in Carbon and Monroe counties
• Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County
• Interstate 380 in Monroe County
• U.S. 22 in Lehigh and Northampton counties
• Route 33 in Monroe and Northampton counties

The National Weather Service said precipitation would continue through the morning before wrapping up in early afternoon.

Forecasters also are looking ahead to a weekend system that will bring more snow and ice to the region, along with a stormy pattern likely to emerge next week.

Weekend weather a repeat

The Saturday-into-Sunday timeframe will see the next storm system come out of the Central Plains and traverse east, strengthening over the Ohio River Valley by Saturday evening, the weather service said in its latest forecast discussion.

That energy is expected to develop a coastal low off the Mid-Atlantic on Saturday night, with the latest guidance trending slightly colder, meaning more snow is possible.

Precipitation should begin Saturday evening, with frozen precipitation expected to hang on in the Lehigh Valley for the duration of the storm.

Areas north of the Interstate 95 corridor up to and including the Interstate 78 corridor could see 1 to 3 inches of snow, the weather service said, with 3 to 5 inches possible in the Poconos.

“There will also be freezing rain accretion over most of the area, but the amount should generally range from a trace to" a tenth of an inch, the forecast discussion said.

With winter weather advisories are likely to be issued in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Snow likely next week

Snowy predictions and snow maps — including those suggesting obscene amounts in the Lehigh Valley — have emerged on social media in recent days.

And while a stormy pattern is likely next week, forecasters are trying to temper expectations for even the biggest winter enthusiasts.

“The ensembles are all over this thing for a significant snowfall,” EPAWA meteorologist Bobby Martrich said in his latest video update.

But “significant” in this case could be 5 or 6 inches, the models suggest.

“It might not be a tremendous amount, and it probably won’t be, but you’ll have a decent shot at a pretty significant snowfall,” Martrich said.

Deterministic and ensemble guidance also point to another system or two following that, which forecasters will continue to monitor in the days ahead.