BETHLEHEM, Pa. — After a steady – but not soaking – overnight rain, the area remains on track to break a pair of records that have stood the test of time.
Nearly three-quarters of an inch of rain was measured overnight at Lehigh Valley International Airport, the official climate site for the region.
That measurement was valid just after 5 a.m. Thursday.
If November ended today, not only would it still be the driest autumn (September through November) on record for the area, it would be the driest of any three-calendar-month period on record, according to the National Weather Service.
If November ended today, not only would it be the driest autumn (Sep-Nov) on record at all 9 of our main climate sites, but it would be driest of ANY 3-calendar month period on record. At least one site (Mt Pocono) is unlikely to remain in record territory over the next few days. pic.twitter.com/rmibPwewtx
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) November 19, 2024
Allentown’s driest three-calendar-months on record came from October through December 1928, with 3.58 inches of rainfall.
With our overnight totals added, we’ll need at least another 1.25 inches before the end of the month.
Additionally, the record for the driest autumn dates to 1922, with 3.81 inches of rain from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30.
There's 12 days left, and all 9 of our climate stations are on track to set records for their driest autumn ever recorded. We'll just have to wait and see how much rain we can get in the next 12 days. pic.twitter.com/3mtfVxZMEh
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) November 19, 2024
With the overnight rainfall added, we’ll need almost another 1.5 inches of rain before the end of the month.
Precipitation records in both cases date to Jan. 1, 1912.
Rainfall reports around the Valley
The NWS Rainfall Monitor reported these 24-hour totals early Thursday:
Lehigh Valley Int’l Airport: 0.73 inches
Allentown (Queen City): 0.64 inches
Bethlehem: 0.86 inches to 1.07 inches (multiple readings)
Center Valley: 0.99 inches
Easton: 0.85 inches
Fogelsville: 0.92 inches
Lehigh River at Bethlehem: 0.88 inches
Macungie: 0.83 inches
Nazareth: 0.86 inches
Whitehall: 0.69 inches
Blustery, with snow on the way?
The weather service has issued a winter storm warning in effect from Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon for Carbon and Monroe counties in an "elevation-dependent system."
The warning replaces the watch for those two counties, which means a significant combination of hazardous winter weather is occurring or imminent.
Schuylkill County was placed under a winter storm watch, which means there is the potential for significant and hazardous winter weather within 48 hours. It does not mean that significant and hazardous winter weather will occur, but that it is possible.
The weather service said “enough cold air looks to accompany our next round of precipitation to change rain showers to snow showers potentially all the way to Philly proper and the I-95 corridor.”
Accumulations will be tough in the Lehigh Valley, according to the latest NWS forecast discussion, as temperatures likely will stay a couple degrees above freezing.
Both the NWS and EPAWA are forecasting light accumulations, marking the potential first appearance of snow across a significant portion of the area.
