NWS issues wind chill advisory for Poconos Friday night into Saturday

The National Weather Service issued wind chill advisories for the Poconos Friday, with temperatures expected to feel as cold as 20 below.

"Temperatures will tumble from the mid- to upper 30s in the afternoon Friday to the teens by midnight, with winds gusting between 20 and 30 mph. By the time we wake up Saturday morning, the temperature will range from near zero at Mount Pocono to 6 in Stroudsburg," said Ben Gelber, meteorologist and Pocono weather expert.

For Carbon and Monroe counties, which are covered by the Mount Holly, New Jersey, NWS office, the advisory is in effect from 10 p.m. Friday through 10 a.m. Saturday.

“The cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes,” the NWS warns.

The advisory is a bit longer — 7 p.m. Friday to 1 p.m. Saturday — in Pike and Wayne counties.

The Binghamton, New York, NWS office added that temperatures will remain cold even after the advisory expires: “In addition to the bitterly cold wind chills overnight, temperatures on Saturday are expected to only warm to between 10 to 15 degrees and then quickly fall back to near zero overnight Sunday night. This will be a prolonged period under very cold conditions. This could lead to pipes freezing.”

Saturday's high temperatures — 10 degrees in Mount Pocono and 16 degrees in Stroudsburg/East Stroudsburg — will fall at or below average low temperatures for this time of year.

"The average high in the middle of January is 30 degrees at Mount Pocono and 36 degrees at Stroudsburg, with normal lows between 15 and 18 degrees," Gelber said.

Human services: Cold weather shelters, hot meals and more

Snow to follow

The National Weather Service is also monitoring a system expected to bring snow and rain Sunday night into Monday, though its exact path is still uncertain.

The snow is expected to start on Sunday before transitioning to rain. The storm's precise track will determine how much snow falls in the Poconos.

According to a Friday morning forecast from the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, there's an 89% chance that Mount Pocono will get at least 2 inches of snow.

Pocono weather: Snow will follow bitter cold this weekend. How much can we expect?

"A major storm will rumble up the Eastern Seaboard Sunday, with snow developing later in the day, then likely becoming a wintry mix Sunday night, if the track follows the I-95 corridor, allowing milder Atlantic air to be drawn inland. Up to 4 inches of snow would fall before a changeover, and snow showers with gusty winds will return on Martin Luther King Jr. Day," Gelber said.

"Should a more easterly trajectory along or just off the coast occur, accumulations would increase to more than 6 inches, though that is looking less likely currently based model trends" as of late Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile in the Lehigh Valley, which was not under a wind chill advisory, a hazardous weather outlook already advises that "Snow and/or sleet accumulation may result in significant travel disruptions on Sunday" in Lehigh and Northampton counties.

The Pocono Record will monitor PennDOT for traffic restrictions and updates over the weekend. Travel information can also be found at 511pa.com, on the 511PA app and on regional Twitter accounts such as @511PANortheast (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Poconos) and @511PAAllentown (Lehigh Valley).

Kathryne Rubright is a reporter covering the environment, northeast Pa. politics, and local news. She is based at the Pocono Record. Reach her at krubright@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: NWS: Poconos under wind chill advisory Friday night, snow to follow