SHAMOKIN - Between 6 and 8 inches of snow is expected to fall in the greater Shamokin area today and Monday. Temperatures are expected to fall, too, with an anticipated low Tuesday of less than zero.
Flurries should arrive at sunrise followed by light snowfall later in the morning. By the time Super Bowl XLIX kicks off at 6:30 p.m., there should be plenty to shovel, according to Bill Gartner, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The heaviest snowfall is expected Sunday night. Gartner said it's the area's fourth snow event in the past 10 days.
The snowstorm is tracking west to east from Missouri into Ohio before reaching Pennsylvania. Gartner said it could become a Nor'easter as it moves northeast. But when it hits Shamokin, he said it will be "just a January snowstorm which is typical for Pennsylvania. It's winter."
Shamokin is joined by Sunbury, Danville, Bloomsburg, Selinsgrove and Pottsville among the cities under a winter storm warning that begins at 9 a.m. today and ends at 1 p.m. Monday. Snow emergencies are declared in Kulpmont beginning at 2 p.m. today and in Mount Carmel at midnight. (See Page 2 for details.)
Pennsylvania's northern tier is forecast to get a foot of snow, or more. The Associated Press reports parts of the Philadelphia suburbs could get 5 to 9 inches, but precipitation might change to sleet and freezing rain on Monday.
Rain is in the forecast today for Glendale, Ariz., where the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will play for the NFL Championship. It could do the same in the Shamokin area early Monday, but unlike out West, it will freeze and mix with sleet. More snow will follow before it tapers off Monday afternoon.
The overnight low Saturday into Sunday was forecast at 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures will hover at or below 32 degrees Sunday and between 27 and 29 degrees Monday. When the storm passes, arctic cold will follow behind. The low temperature is predicted at minus-1 degree Tuesday, with a high of just 18 degrees. That falls in line with much of the last week when temperatures were largely in the teens and single-digits.