Get ready for round two. While Monday's snow is gone, another storm from the southwest is heading towards our region.
A winter storm watch has been issued for the North and West suburbs, Lehigh Valley and the Poconos from Tuesday night through Wednesday afternoon. A mixture of snow, rain and ice is expected to strike with the potential for power outages and dangerous roads.
“This one will have more moisture than No. 1 and have a much greater contrast across the area,” said NBC10 First Alert Weather Chief Meteorologist Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz.
The storm should move in around 11 p.m. on Tuesday, starting out as snow in the Lehigh Valley, Poconos, Upper Bucks and Upper Montgomery Counties and an icy mix in the Philly/I-95 corridor as well as Chester County. Only rain is expected in South Jersey and Delaware.
After that, the system will change to an icy mix in some areas and rain in others.
Storm Timeline
Tuesday 11 p.m. - 3 a.m.
- Lehigh Valley, Poconos, Upper Bucks County, Upper Montgomery County - Snow
- Philly/I-95 corridor, Chester County - Icy mix of rain and snow
- South Jersey, Delaware - Rain
Wednesday 3 a.m. - 6 a.m.
- Lehigh Valley, Poconos, Upper Bucks County, Upper Montgomery County-Snow turns to icy mix
- Philly/I-95 corridor, Chester County - Icy mix turns to rain
- South Jersey, Delaware - Rain
Wednesday 6 a.m. Noon
- Lehigh Valley, Poconos, Upper Bucks County, Upper Montgomery County - Icy mix
- Philly/I-95 corridor, Chester County - Rain
- South Jersey, Delaware - Rain
Wednesday Noon - 4 p.m.
- Storm clears from all areas
“Snow will accumulate north and west before changing to freezing rain,” Glenn said. “The question is, how much of it will be snow and how much will be freezing rain? That will determine how severe the storm is. It does look like it will change over to rain in the Philadelphia area and point south and east by Wednesday morning.”
Snow to freezing rain will be the worst case scenario and likely cause downed trees, power outages and slippery roads.
“It’s a different type of storm but it has the potential for power outages north and west because of the additional snow and or ice on top of the snow that has already fallen today,” Glenn said. “It’s just weighing down on tree limbs which then break and take care of the power lines.”
Glenn also says the storm could cause both flooding and ice jam threats.
Estimated Snow Totals
Lehigh Valley/Poconos - 4 to 8 inches of snow, plus ice
Bucks, Montgomery, Chester counties - 3 to 6 inches of snow, plus ice
Philly/I-95 corridor - 1 to 3 inches of snow, plus ice
After storm number two moves out, a third system will move into the area Friday night into Saturday morning. Glenn says the track of that storm will be determined by what the second storm does.
Photo Credit: Ahmed Ansari