Central Pa.’s first snowstorm of the season is predicted to come this weekend

• Katie Knol
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  Katie Knol was WITF's newsroom summer intern for 2023.
  
  She currently a senior at Penn State University majoring in digital/print journalism and political science. She has also worked at WPSU, The Daily Collegian and CommRadio.

The first weekend of 2024 is expected to be a cold and snowy one in Central Pennsylvania. 

Forecasters say a potentially big snowstorm will hit the East Coast on Saturday and Sunday, bringing between 4 inches to over 1 foot of snow. 

It’s not yet clear how the storm could affect Central Pennsylvania. 

Michael Colbert, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College, said because the storm is still days away, there’s a lot of uncertainty, but they will “have a much better idea” about what to expect by Thursday. 

Forecasters are still waiting to determine the exact path and strength of the storm, which he said will impact the temperatures and the amount of precipitation. For the Harrisburg region, there could be a mix of precipitation — including rain, sleet and snow — depending on the temperature. 

Recently, Central Pennsylvania and nearby major cities haven’t had much snow. WGAL reported a record-breaking lack of snowfall in 2023. Jan. 25 was the last time there was a measurable snowfall at Harrisburg International Airport, and it melted within the day. 

Colbert said the conditions for snow were there, but they didn’t align. 

“In the past couple of years, a lot of times we’ll have a brief cold air mass move in and then the storm track will be to our West, and that pushes away the cold air as the moisture comes in, so it’s no longer there, and the precipitation falls in the form of rain,” he said. 

The region saw frigid temperatures and precipitation, but not at the same time. 

Forecasters think those conditions will align this weekend. The chance of 4 inches of snow is between 40 and 70 percent, and the chance of more than 1 foot of snow is about 10 to 20 percent. 

Colbert said he recommends people start preparing now, especially because it’s been a while since the region got a major snowstorm. 

“We do encourage everybody to check and make sure that their snow blowers are working, that they have fuel for the snow blowers, make sure that you have proper shovels on hand,” he said. “And if you know anybody who’s more elderly or has health conditions and may have trouble shoveling the snow, maybe consider reaching out to them to lend a helping hand.”

According to NWS data, Central PA gets between 18 inches and 36 inches of snow in an average year. Harrisburg’s 1991-2020 average was about 30 inches.