The Accu-Weather forecast for today was bad on Monday. It was bad on Tuesday. It's still bad today. Joe Lundberg says the Lehigh Valley and beyond will be getting its biggest snowfall totals in quite a while. "We're going with a blanket average of 12-to-18 inches across the vast majority of the listening area, but in the Poconos there will be areas of two feet or more. Areas to our south will see amounts slightly lower, probably a little below a foot, as sleet and freezing rain try to mix in at the height of this storm this evening," Lundberg says. Lundberg believes the first bit of snow will begin falling between 2-and-4 o'clock and will quickly pick up in intensity before finally tapering off Thursday morning.
We've heard this message from Gov. Tom Wolf for nine months now. But today, it's for a different reason. "There's actually something simple that every single Pennsylvanian can do to help us get through this storm as quickly as possible and that is stay home, if you can," Wolf says. The governor says it's not too complicated. Fewer cars on the road during the upcoming snowstorm means road crews can do their job easier and faster. Wolf has already issued an emergency proclamation ahead of the storm.
Allentown and Bethlehem have declared snow emergencies as a winter storm is expected to hit Pennsylvania this afternoon. Bethlehem's snow emergency takes effect at noon, meaning all vehicles need to be removed from the designated side of streets on snow emergency routes by that time. The same rules apply in Allentown, where the snow emergency took effect at 8 o'clock this morning.
PEMA Director Randy Padfield says coronavirus vaccinations flooding into Pennsylvania this week will get where they need to go regardless of how much snow falls. "It is our understanding working with the Department of Health and Operation Warp Speed that all the shippers have a contingency plan in place for severe weather. So they have the ability to hold the shipment, however we also have the ability to route them the best way to get to their destination," Padfield says. He says distributing the vaccines during a big storm will be handled in the same way state agencies transferred a critically ill child from one hospital to another during a previous storm.
9556 new cases of coronavirus were reported Tuesday by Pennsylvania's Department of Health, pushing the state's overall total to 509,320. Another 270 coronavirus-related deaths were also reported Tuesday, leaving Pennsylvania's total at 12,890.
The tenth allotment of COVID-19 antigen tests is being distributed to about 20 counties who never received the shipment. The Wolf administration says that all 67 counties in the state now have received a shipment of antigen test kits. They are being provided to the state by the federal government.
New Jersey is reporting its highest amount of COVID-19 deaths for the first time in six months. Tuesday, the state confirmed 97 new deaths related to coronavirus, along with 4111 additional new infections.
11 years after Miguel Aponte Jr. was shot to death at the Easton Cafe, there's a guilty verdict in the case. After a five-day trial, a jury convicted Jacob Holmes Jr. of killing Aponte in retaliation for the killing of a friend of Holmes' in 2006. Northampton County DA Terry Houck is hoping the jury decides on the death penalty for Holmes.
Bethlehem police are investigating a body found in a truck Monday. Wilmot Carson, from Florida, was found unresponsive in his truck in the 2900 block of Schoenersville Road. The results of his autopsy are still pending and police aren't saying his death was suspicious.
Penn State football coach James Franklin says his Nittany Lions will not talk about potential bowl games until after their matchup with Illinois Saturday. After starting the season 0-5, Penn State hopes to win its fourth straight against the Fighting Illini. Possible bowl destinations for Penn State are games held in Charlotte, Nashville and Phoenix.