Environment & Science

The weekend storm threat would be the area’s first significant snowfall in years, but forecasters say we have a long way to go to determine the final impacts.

From 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 10, college officials are opening up the Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation, 2400 W. Chew St., for residents and community members to explore.

The James Webb Space Telescope, launched on Christmas 2021, orbits the Sun about a million miles outside Earth’s orbit. It is the most powerful, largest, and most complex telescope ever made.

This New Year’s Day, tens of thousands of people across the country, including dozens in the Valley, will take a guided hike through a state park to mark the beginning of 2024.

December 2023 is now the wettest December on record in the Lehigh Valley, with a total of 8.17 inches of rainfall recorded as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. The high water mark was set during a day of record rain for Dec. 27.

The ski slopes just southeast of Lehigh County announced it would shut down at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, awaiting colder weather to make snow

With a forecast projecting 1 to 1.5 inches of rain possible this week, the Lehigh Valley will move closer to its wettest December ever.

Lawmakers in Harrisburg passed nearly three dozen laws last week in a final burst of action as they held their last voting session of the year.

Look for the full moon on Wednesday, Dec. 27

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

Letters of application for renewals of existing wastewater treatment plants and related discharges at Lehigh Township Municipal Authority-Pennsville and Lehigh Carbon Community College were approved by the LVPC Environment Committee on Tuesday morning.

The wind chill was minus 11 on Tuesday morning, and a cold weather advisory remains in effect in the Lehigh Valley until Wednesday. With those temperatures, we're more like Buffalo and colder than parts of Siberia.

The National Weather Service has issued a cold weather advisory for the Lehigh Valley and other parts of eastern Pennsylvania through noon Wednesday, with wind chills dropping to as low as 13 degrees below zero.

This week, WLVR's Brad Klein explore the prominent winter constellation Orion wit Marty McGuire, offering insights on its star patterns. Klein prefers to reimagine it as Orion the Dogwalker alongside the bright star Sirius.

While the snow took a few hours to start piling up, by mid-afternoon it was falling at rates of two inches per hour in some parts of the Lehigh Valley. Dangerous cold will follow the snow, forecasters say.

Following a Winter Storm Warning, The National Weather Service at Mount Holly, New Jersey has now issued a cold weather advisory for the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas, warning of "dangerously cold" temperatures this week.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering the eastern hellbender for protections under the federal Endangered Species Act. Find out why habitat loss and the pet trade are contributing to population declines.

A new bridge in Lower Saucon Township allows pedestrians to navigate from Hellertown to Quakertown uninterrupted. A grand opening ceremony was held Saturday.

If predictions stay true, the Lehigh Valley would be on the higher end of the 4- to 7-inch range of snowfall. PennDOT and the PA Turnpike Commission have set vehicle and road restrictions.

Depending on how the system evolves, a robust and plowable storm seems like the more likely scenario for the region, with the timing on potential snowfall beginning to lock in for Sunday afternoon.

Confidence has increased for a clipper system to bring light snow to the region on Thursday, with potential for additional accumulation Sunday into Monday. The coldest air mass of the season arrives behind it, forecasters say.

Allentown's EAC accomplished a lot in the past year, including successfully lobbying for two pieces of legislation and supporting a sustainability coordinator for the second year.