Start of spring ends a warmer, wetter winter
Lehigh Valley has snowfall total below average
Tuesday marks the first day of spring, bringing an end to a rainy, slightly warmer-than-usual winter in the Lehigh Valley.
While there is still a possibility of wintry weather through April, early forecasts do not indicate significant snowfall coming through the end of the month, and snow has not fallen often that month in recent years in the Lehigh Valley.
This winter, the area had much more snow than last year; however, the total was still below average.
Ray Martin, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, said the Lehigh Valley had a recorded 25.2 inches of snow this winter. It fell short of the average, about 33.1 inches, according to Martin.
Still, there ended up being four times as much snow as the previous winter, when only 6.3 inches of snow fell the entire season.
This winter, there were three storms that brought snow in January. A total of 10.4 inches fell that month and the biggest single-day snowfall happened Jan. 6.
Two storms brought 14.8 inches of snow to the region in February. The biggest single-day snowfall for the month and the whole season happened Feb. 13, when a recorded 9.1 inches of snow fell.
The last time snow fell in the Lehigh Valley was one month ago, Feb. 17.
Martin noted it is unusual that no snow has fallen in March.
“Normally we actually get significant snow in March,” he said.
Measurable snow fell in the Lehigh Valley in March 2023, 2022 and 2019, weather service data shows.
While snow was below average for the region this season, rain was well above average, according to Martin. A recorded 17.23 inches of rain fell between December and February, almost doubling the average of 9.93 inches, he said. It is the second rainiest winter on record for the Allentown area.
Most of that rain fell in December and January, according to weather service data.
Temperatures were also above average this winter. Martin said temperatures were about 3 degrees higher than normal, at an average of 35.6, making it the ninth warmest winter on record for the region.
Recently, temperatures have been well above normal. On Thursday, Lehigh Valley
International Airport recorded a high of 74, making it the warmest day of the year so far.
The overall outlook for the spring is warmer, Martin said. The weather service is predicting there will likely be above average temperatures from late March into April.
Before that, temperatures are expected to drop this week, with highs in the 40s, as a cold front comes to the area. Tuesday, the first day of spring, will be windy and colder and will feel like a “shock to the system,” Martin said.
“Winter is not really coming back, but it’s kind of brushing us a little bit,” he said.
Outside of the lower temperatures, forecasters believe there is a slight chance of light snow this week. Martin said there is always a possibility of significant snowfall through April. He mentioned that Philadelphia has had significant snowstorms in April.
“It just doesn’t look likely,” he said.
The National Weather Service’s forecast through Saturday does not show any significant snowfall.
AccuWeather, which has forecast data for the next few weeks, does not show snow either.