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Brace yourselves for a one-two punch, followed by bitter cold.
As you read this, the ground may already be white, with snow showers potentially bringing accumulations of an inch or more to the region by Friday morning.
But that’s just the beginning.
A winter storm moving into the region this weekend is expected to dump 6 to 12 inches of snow with the potential of a mix of sleet and freezing rain beginning Saturday morning into late Sunday afternoon, according to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service in Binghamton, N.Y.
Northern tier counties and the extreme northwestern area of Luzerne County, near Ricketts Glen State Park, could receive additional accumulations of up to 18 inches of snow.
Snowfall rates could reach one to two inches per hour during the weekend’s storm.
As the storm moves away, an arctic blast of cold air will settle into the region resulting in blowing snow and wind chills of -15 to -20 degrees Sunday night through Monday. Wind speeds will frequently gust to 20 to 30 mph and possibly higher, the NWS reported.
City preparing
Wilkes-Barre Department of Public Works’ crews will be out for the first bout of snow to clear the roads for the Friday morning commute, said Butch Frati, director of operations for the city.
The heavier lift will come on the weekend.
“It doesn’t look like it’s going to miss us,” Frati said. The city has been monitoring the forecasts in preparation for the storm that’s going to bring a mix of snow at first, ice and freezing to follow and possibly end with snow and frigid temperatures.
“We’re going to staff it completely. We have 15 pieces of equipment. We’re going to run it ‘til it’s over,” Frati said. “We’ll have enough vehicles out in every area (of the city).”
The city does not pre-treat the roads with brine like the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation does because they don’t get the traffic in order for the solution to be effective, Frati explained. “We may put a little bit of a layer (of salt) on bridges and hills,” he said.
The city’s salt shed is full and the crews will be on duty Monday, the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday.
“If we need to have an additional day to clean up that is a good thing,” Frati said.
Staff writer Jerry Lynott contributed to this report.