It could pile up 3 to 6 inches in the Lehigh Valley, a WeatherWorks meteorologist says.
OK, what's your worst-case scenario for rush hour?
Well, this time it's likely not going to be ice. So that's a positive.
But a developing nor'easter could smack us at the same time as plummeting temperatures whack us and a brisk wind cracks us.
Welcome to late Tuesday afternoon as an arctic cold front joins forces with a coastal snowstorm.
After a relatively warm winter day today, it drops into the teens tonight and stays there until Tuesday night, when it dives into single digits, perhaps even down to zero, a WeatherWorks meteorologist says from the company's headquarters in Hackettstown.
Throw in 3 to 6 inches of powdery, blowing snow -- 4 to 8 to the south and 2 to 4 to the north -- meteorologist Rob Reale said this morning, similar to the snow shot we took early in the new year. AccuWeather (1 to 3 inches) and the National Weather Service (2 to 4 inches) see less snow, at the moment.
A winter storm watch begins 7 a.m. Tuesday and continues until 1 a.m. Wednesday for Hunterdon County and the northern parts of Bucks County. In those areas 4 to 7 inches of snow are possible, the weather service said.
It won't be as cold as 20 years ago this week when we eventually hit 15 below, with chill factors in the minus 35 range.
But chill factors of 10 to 15 below are not out of the question with wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph, Reale said, after chill factors fell to 20 to 25 below earlier this month, the last time we were gripped by the arctic cold.
The cold air and the snow are coming from pretty much the same place -- the storm is in the Dakotas at the moment, the air belongs to Canada. The snow will work its way through the Ohio Valley before soaking up the warmer water off the Atlantic Coast and becoming a winter nor'easter, Reale said.
"This could be a pretty significant or moderate event," Reale said, adding that meteorologists have been watching it for some time. "There will be a decent snowstorm tomorrow ... with bitter temperatures."
Light snow could start falling in the morning, he said, but the evening and overnight will bring us the heaviest of it. The low could even drop a degree or two below zero, he said.
And the rest of the week?
"It's just going to be cold all week," Reale said, with a chance of snow showers on Thursday.