Environment & Science

Rainy weekends have put a damper on attendance at fall festivals in the Lehigh Valley.

A potent system is still on the way to the area, the National Weather Service warned Friday, referencing a storm forecasters have been talking about for almost a week.

The initiative consists of a partnership between Northside Alive and PPL — the latter donating 500 special lightbulbs to the community.

PennEnvironment released data showing Pennsylvania ranks near the bottom when it comes to the growth of wind energy, solar power, energy storage and other renewable energy metrics over the last decade.

A powerful storm system expected to bring heavy rain to the region this weekend might not be a total washout, forecasters say.

After Lafayette College cleared more than 40 trees for a $1.2 million walkway without city approval, no trees will be replanted on the hillside where they were removed, the city forester said. Instead, several dozen trees were planted across campus and in Easton.

An agreement between Bethlehem Landfill and the people suing them, reached Tuesday, limits the landfill’s work to expand while a series of lawsuits aimed at stopping the expansion go forward.

"This is something in winter a few months from now … this is a Miller B system [or nor’easter]. The difference is, temperatures are too warm for snow," EPAWA meteorologist Bobby Martrich said.

Brad Klein reviews the week's astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s "Backyard Astronomy Guy."

Have you been following the news in the Lehigh Valley this week? Find out how many of these questions about happenings and news around the Lehigh Valley you can answer correctly.

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory mid-Sunday afternoon, warning of potential slippery conditions as mixed precipitation moves through the Lehigh Valley into early Monday morning.

The winter solstice is celebrated in many ways by many cultures. How will you ring it in in the wee hours of Saturday morning, Dec. 21?

State environmental officials awarded $2.55 million in grants as part of a statewide effort to improve air quality in communities through cleaner fuel transportation infrastructure.

Wilson Area School District's second annual Family Computer Science Night welcomed hundreds of students to learn all about computers, AI, robots, and the future careers they could have in the field on Thursday evening.

Plans by Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley to construct a 1,200-square-foot addition to its existing administrative offices at 4501 Crackersport Road were approved by the South Whitehall Township Planning Commission on Thursday night.

Three farms in Lehigh County were the latest to be included in Pennsylvania’s Farmland Preservation Program. The program aims to ward off development and protect open spaces.

A system arriving Sunday night could bring a period of snow and ice to the area before a changeover to rain but “there remains considerable uncertainty with the details.”

During the 2023-24 hunting seasons, a record-breaking 261,672 pounds of venison from 6,905 deer and six elk statewide was donated through Hunters Sharing the Harvest. Find out how much was donated in the Lehigh Valley.

Part of the DCNR Community Conservation Partnerships Program, the grants support projects to develop new parks, rehabilitate existing spaces and protect vital natural habitats. A dozen Lehigh Valley projects were funded.

The Blue Mountain fire, also called the Gap Fire, on Nov. 2 erupted in Lehigh Township. The fire, which grew from 150 acres to almost 600, took seven days of fighting before it was marked 100% contained.

The rainfall is expected to be heaviest Wednesday afternoon and evening as a cold front approaches, with forecasters not ruling out some rumbles of thunder possible in the Lehigh Valley.

Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s annual autumn Bake Oven Knob Hawk Watch ended late last month, with 9,373 migrating raptors recorded. While the overall count is lower than last year, many species exceeded 2023 totals.