The worst-case scenario is some warm air getting stuck aloft, turn snow into rain which freezes on the roads, a meteorologist says.
A vehicle is facing the wrong way about 7:50 a.m. Dec. 7 on Route 22 at Route 145 in South Whitehall Township after several minutes of freezing rain.
Perhaps to Denver for the playoffs?
Well, it's back from break and it's going to get nasty overnight, the National Weather Service says, before getting seasonably chilly next week. A winter weather advisory and a hazardous weather outlook will be in place overnight.
After a December that was 5 degrees above normal in the Lehigh Valley and 7.5 degrees above normal in the first 14 days of January, it will actually be below normal by Friday, meteorologist Walter Drag said this morning from the weather service's office in Mount Holly, N.J.
But first, the revenge of the warm weather.
If some warm air gets trapped aloft, as snow falls overnight it could melt and if it doesn't refreeze into sleet, it could land as freezing rain, creating a traffic nightmare, Drag said.
"It's going to be a nasty commute tomorrow morning in the Lehigh Valley and in northwest New Jersey," Drag said.
The weather service is predicting 2 to 4 inches of snow along with a trace of ice or sleet. Hackettstown has already suspended on-street overnight parking.
"Just be prepared for a delayed commute," Drag said, adding that there could be more freezing rain than snow in some spots and some schools could be closed.
"I'd be rooting for snow and sleet," Drag said, adding that even with warnings of freezing rain, "people are still going to get into accidents."
Several minutes of freezing rain about 8 a.m. Dec. 7 caused dozens of accidents across the region.
Seasonably cold weather should follow by the end of the week, but the temperatures should still be above normal until Friday, he said.
"People's heating bills have really benefited" from the warm December and even warmer January, but the furnace could be working harder by the weekend, Drag said.
"But I would accentuate the cold," Drag said, it's been a warm winter so far.