Schuylkill County Weather Forecast - 12/20/13

By:  Monsoon Mike

Felt noticeably warmer today but if you thought today was good, wait till you see the next few days. It will come at the expense, however, of more clouds, especially Saturday. In fact, Saturday might be quite dreary and foggy. Sunday will be extremely warm with record-breaking temperatures in the 60's but still the chance of rain and perhaps even thunderstorms. The taste of spring comes to an end Monday

Hometown Hill Motor Vehicle Accident Wednesday Evening

A Tamaqua man suffered various injuries after flipping his vehicle around 9:45 PM tonight (Wed., Dec. 18, 2013) on the Hometown Hill (SR309) in Tamaqua. The man, the only person in the vehicle, had a visible wound to his head. He denied treatment while on scene. The driver said he was traveling south on SR309 when he lost control after looking in the back of his vehicle for something. Responding were Tamaqua Police, Rush Township Police and Tamaqua Fire Police. Traffic was detoured around the incident until a tow crew could remove the vehicle and clean the scene.

Posted from www.TamaquaArea.com

Credit Card Information Compromised on Black Friday From Target

CNN is reporting that the Secret Service is investigating a data breach on Black Friday and about 40 million shopper's credit card information may have been accessed.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/18/news/companies/target-credit-card/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Schuylkill County Weather Forecast

By:  Monsoon Mike

Nice days Wednesday and Thursday with temperatures in the 30s and 40s.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas (Schuylkill County version)

Frackville Police Officer Cited For Hit and Run

WNEP published a story yesterday about a Frackville Police Officer, Joseph Hahn, who has been involved 2 hit and runs in the past 6 months.

You can read the story at the link below.

http://wnep.com/2013/12/17/police-officer-cited-for-hit-and-run/

Schuylkill County Weather Forecast

By:  Monsoon Mike

Show of hands ... Who's tired of the snow?? I personally love snow, but even I gotta admit the past couple of weeks has been a bit much, especially when it's not even winter yet. Yep, did you ever think of it that way? It's technically still 'autumn' for a few more days. Quite an end to autumn when autumn started with temperatures in the 80s. Remember those days?

Well, I've got quite a break coming up for you. The jet stream shifts around a bit and later this week, we make it into the forties. Then 50s for Saturday. And get this. It culminates on Sunday in the 60s, melting most of what's on the ground. One or two computer models REALLY get crazy and want to put Pennsylvania's Sunday temperatures DEEP into the 60s to near 70 (!!!) down near Philadelphia. I'm not quite buying that since the models sometimes forget this is December, short daylight hours, and a cool ground. But 60s are very possible. The tradeoff will be Friday through Sunday will be more cloudy than sunny with a stalled front nearby. Sunday could even turn a little rainy, as could the days prior, but mainly just scattered showers.

Next week, just in time for Santa, it's back to the cold we have now, so this won't be an extended period of thaw, but it'll be nice while it's around.

Schuylkill County Cancellations - 12/17/13

Schuylkill County Cancellations due to the weather and conditions on 12/17/13

St. Catherine's Former Employees Get Payday

Last night, WNEP posted a story about the former employees of St. Catherine's Medical Center, Fountain Springs, getting their payday after almost closing 2 years ago.

Check out the story below
http://wnep.com/2013/12/16/former-hospital-workers-get-big-payday-before-holidays/

Tractor Trailer Hit and Run In Tamaqua

-----TAMAQUA CRIME WATCH ALERT-----

FULL-SIZE TRACTOR TRAILER DRIVES OFF AFTER STRIKING SHED, FENCE, VEHICLE AND STOP SIGN TONIGHT ON SIDE STREET IN TAMAQUA Incident occurred around 11:30 PM tonight (Monday, Dec. 16, 2013).

Schuylkill County School Delays and Closings - 12/17/13

Schuylkill County School Delays and Closings For 12/17/13

Schuylkill County Weather Forecast

By: Monsoon Mike

One more wintry weather event is on the way, folks, and I promise, this is the last one ... for at least a week. In fact, by Sunday, we may be flirting in spring-like territory with temperatures deep into the 50s! To get there, however, we need to get through another winter storm, this one very minor, but coming at the totally wrong time ... the morning rush. 

Winter Weather Advisory Issued For Schuylkill County

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 10 AM EST TUESDAY... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 10 AM EST TUESDAY.

* LOCATIONS...THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY AND EAST-CENTRAL MOUNTAINS.

* HAZARD TYPES...SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS...2 TO 3 INCHES...WITH A FEW LOCATIONS SEEING UP TO 4 INCHES.

* TIMING...LATE TONIGHT THROUGH INTO THE LATE MORNING HOURS TUESDAY.

* IMPACTS...SNOW COVERED ROADS AND HAZARDOUS TRAVEL.

* WINDS...SOUTHEAST 5 TO 10 MPH.

* TEMPERATURES...IN THE TEENS TO AROUND 20.

* VISIBILITIES...MAINLY BETWEEN 1 AND 2 MILES...WITH PERIODS OF AROUND ONE-HALF OF A MILE VISIBILITY AROUND DAYBREAK.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. USE CAUTION IF TRAVELING. FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION...GO TO WEATHER.GOV/CTP OR STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO.

REPORT SNOW OR ICE ACCUMULATION TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE BY SENDING AN EMAIL TO CTP.STORMREPORTS@NOAA.GOV... POSTING TO THE NWS STATE COLLEGE FACEBOOK PAGE...OR TWEET @NWSSTATECOLLEGE WITH THE HASHTAG #CTPWX.

Prisoner Escape in Lehigh Valley

ESCAPED PRISONER | NAZARETH | NORTHAMPTON |

PD HAS ISSUED A BOLO (BE ON THE LOOK OUT) FOR A MALE PRISONER WHO ESCAPED FROM AN UNKNOWN LOCATION. PRISONER DITCHED ORANGE JUMPSUIT AND IS BELIEVED TO BE WEARING JUST A THERMAL SHIRT AND PANTS. BELIEVED TO BE IN A 1993 TOYOTA CAMRY BEARING PA TAG: JHN1842 WITH HEAVY FRONT END DAMAGE. SUBJECT IS DESCRIBED AS ARMED AND DANGEROUS AND IS BELIEVED TO BE CARRYING A SHOT GUN. IF YOU SEE THIS VEHICLE CALL POLICE IMMEDIATELY AND DO NOT APPROACH.

Update:  The individual is said to be Danie Preziosi and he is said to have escaped custody after a prelimary hearing in Nazareth, PA.

Schuylkill County Weather Forecast and Snowfall Amounts

By: Monsoon Mike

This is quite a pattern we're in and it doesn't really stop here. ANOTHER snow event is heading our way, but his one should be fairly minor. That being said, Schuylkill has more of a chance of seeing snow than our neighbors to the south, say Berks or Lehigh, for example, so this is nothing to ignore. 

A quick moving clipper system will send us two waves of precipitation, the first probably beginning late Monday Night/early Tuesday following a dry, chilly Monday. 

The second wave comes later Tuesday after a mainly non-precipitating Tuesday. The second wave may be more in the form of snow showers or "squalls." I think the first "wave" is the more organized batch. Either way, once you get done adding up the two "waves," I think a general 1 to 2 inches countywide is possible. 

Warning: The "bust" potential for forecasts with clippers are very high meaning I have more of a chance of blowing a clipper forecast, believe it or not, than a bigger storm. The reason is that they are often smaller and much quicker. Using an analogy, think of a BIG storm as a huge bowling ball and a clipper as a tennis ball. The bowling ball has a LOT of precipitation with it coming at the pins and there's really not many ways to miss. But a tiny tennis ball flies faster, has more of a chance to change direction, and may totally miss. More chance the tennis ball goes astray and misses doing anything. So right now, my confidence in 1 to 2 inches for Monday Night and Tuesday is about 45%. My confidence in the forecast when I re-look at it tomorrow will be around 70%.