Lehigh Valley in for heavy rain, high winds and strong storms Monday
Sunday’s beautiful late-fall weather will give way Monday to a tempest bringing heavy rain, strong winds and the possibility of tornadoes to the Lehigh Valley, the National Weather Service said.
That will be followed by a chance of showers Tuesday that could mix with snow as the temperature dips below freezing late Tuesday night, the weather service said.
By the time many Lehigh Valley residents awakened Monday, rain was expected to be falling across the area accompanied by wind that could gust near 30 mph by mid-morning, the weather service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, forecast.
Steady rain will ease up around noon but a second phase of the storm will bring heavy thunderstorms and the possibility of an isolated tornado across eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the weather service said.
Between 1 and 2 inches of rain is possible. The last of Monday’s rain should pass through the
Lehigh Valley by 9 p.m. but a chance of showers will persist through the day Tuesday.
Temperatures were expected to climb into the 60s Monday afternoon, but then fall into the 40s overnight Monday and remain there through the day Tuesday before falling to a low around 31 Tuesday night.
Monday’s storm system, which the weather service described as a tempest in its Sunday forecast discussion, will be fueled by a wave of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico that will race through the
southeastern states overnight, according to Empire Weather, which provides localized forecasts for The Morning Call.
The strong low-pressure system will continue to draw in moisture from the Atlantic Ocean as it moves up the coast and will linger over Canada, bringing the possibility of snow showers to western Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Empire Weather said.