A major snowstorm threatens to hit Schuylkill County early next week. And right now, up to a foot of snow could fall on the area.
The storm is about 3 days away from reaching the coal region but early indications signal a big snow is in store.
Some forecasters suggest it’s too soon to speculate on the amount of snow but several others are unafraid to throw some early snow totals out there.
Big Snowstorm Headed for Schuylkill County? Suggestions Up to a Foot of Snow Possible
There are some things that seem fairly certain about the possible big snowstorm headed for Schuylkill County early next week. Let’s break down what we do and don’t know about the storm right now (Thursday night):
Storm Already Creating Havoc
The storm that’s likely to reach us here in Schuylkill County is currently ravaging the West Coast of the US. Heavy rain and snow in California has touched off fears of mudslides and avalanches.
Image: Accuweather.com
Between now and then, the storm will creep across the US, eventually reaching us here in Schuylkill County.
Secondary Storm Forming
As that initial storm system makes its way into the Eastern US, according to Accuweather’s Bernie Rayno, a secondary storm will form in the southeast and make its way up the coastline. Provided that happens as forecasted, Schuylkill County could be in line for a major snowstorm in the early part of next week.
Storm Likely Late Sunday
The beginning of this possibly big snowstorm should get to Schuylkill County by late Sunday. The snowfall prediction totals from Accuweather.com suggests the accumulating snow starts to fall around 8 p.m. Sunday.
Long Duration of Snow
If these two storms converge as predicted, we could be looking at a long period of accumulating snow. The storm may begin Sunday evening but last well into Monday and even early Tuesday.
Snow Totals
Not too many forecasters are ready to pin a snowfall total amount on this storm. None of the local news stations were ready to do that, as of Thursday night.
But Accuweather and The Weather Channel are fearless in their predictions.
As of publishing this article, Accuweather has Pottsville receiving 11.2 inches of snow through the duration of the storm. Between 3-6 inches could fall by the end of Sunday with another 5-10 inches on Monday.
The Weather Channel currently predicts between 5-11 inches of snow in Pottsville from this storm.
WUSA-TV posted this image comparing the two main weather models, the GFS and Euro, showing potential snowfall totals from this storm. These are Washington DC-centric but Schuylkill County is visible on these maps:
Image: WUSA-TV/TwitterStay with The Canary through the weekend. We’ll have updates on this storm and revised snowfall predictions from as many experts as we can find.
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