Is it safe to put snow shovels away? What to know about upcoming weather pattern

The Lehigh Valley is making the transition to spring with piles of snow turning to puddles of water, but is it safe to put the snow shovels away?

We’re entering what is typically a volatile period prone to both winterlike and summerlike conditions. The last measurable snow across the mid-Atlantic typically occurs in late February

for a place like Washington, but in the Northeast, the last snowfall usually occurs in late April in Caribou, Maine (where the average snowfall per season is 109 inches).

Here in the Lehigh Valley, the average date of the last measurable snow is March 22, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center. But our last measurable snow has occurred as late as April 27 (in 1967).

The good news? The forecast continues to be optimistic that we are done with snowstorms this season, but it would certainly help to have another week or two in the books to bump that confidence level.

An initial wintry mix is expected from a system Friday night into Saturday before changing to all rain, according to Empire Weather, which provides localized forecasts for The Morning Call.

A second system Sunday into Monday also looks to bring rain.

The National Weather Service says the “up and down” pattern is quite typical of the season, with occasional unsettled weather but no major storm systems.

The Climate Prediction Center’s eight-to-14 day temperature outlook shows even better news for those who’ve been waiting for winter to end. It suggests a high probability of above-average temperatures through the beginning of March.

It would be a big change from last year, when we had a near-snowless winter but opened the month with several days of highs in the 20s and low 30s, some 17 degrees below average.

Spring officially arrives March 20. The average date of our last frost is April 23.