Snow could return to Valley on Monday night

The weather will remain mostly dry and warm this weekend, including through Super Bowl Sunday.

Enjoy it, because the early part of next week looks like we will be back into wintry conditions.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch Saturday to take effect late Monday through Tuesday afternoon for the Lehigh Valley and adjacent areas.

Heavy snow is possible, with possible total accumulations of 4 to 8 inches, the Weather Service said. Travel could be very difficult, with possible hazardous conditions affecting Tuesday’s morning or evening commutes.

If snow makes a return, it will mark the first storm since January, with the month ending at more than 10 inches of snow, slightly above the average of 9.8 inches.

Normal snowfall for the Lehigh Valley in February totals about 10.8 inches, according to the Weather Services’ office in Mount Holly, New Jersey. Some significant snowstorms have occurred in February, March and even April.

The National Weather Service is tracking a low pressure developing over the south-central part of the U.S. that’s expected to bring cold temperatures with precipitation Monday night into Tuesday, meteorologist Joe DeSilva said earlier Saturday.

He said there was “increasing confidence” that areas north and west of the Lehigh Valley, as well as the Poconos, will see snow. “But the exact amounts, we will have to fine tune” over the next day or so, he said.

Saturday and Sunday should be dry, with only a 20% to 30% chance of rain, DeSilva said, and milder-than-normal temperatures for this time of year. The forecast Saturday called for a high of 60 degrees the record for Feb. 10 is 67 degrees set in 1990, DeSilva said. Every day so far this month has seen high temperatures average 44 degrees in Allentown, which is 4 degrees above the norm, he said.

Here is the updated forecast:

Saturday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. Southwest wind around 5 mph.

Sunday: Cloudy, with a high near 50. Northwest wind around 5 mph.

Sunday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Monday: A slight chance of rain after 4 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 50. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Monday night: Rain likely before 1 a.m. then rain and snow between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m., then snow after 4 a.m. Low around 33. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three-quarters of an inch possible.

Tuesday: Snow likely before 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Tuesday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 23.

Wednesday through Friday look to be sunny to mostly cloudy, with normal temperatures for February.