Environment & Science

Sweltering conditions in the Lehigh Valley are forecast to end with a bang on Saturday, according to the Storm Prediction Center. But we have to make it through Friday first.

A second round of black fly treatments was slated to begin 10 a.m. Thursday in Bushkill Creek between Easton and Tatamy.

Amidst high temperatures and even higher heat indexes, it is important to know how to cool down and relieve heat stress. However, the Lehigh Valley is underprepared for these extreme temperatures, says an expert.

A statewide drought watch is still in effect, even amid rounds of severe rainstorms and flash flooding.

Heavy rainfall could occur into the evening and overnight.

In November's general election, residents can submit a "yes" or "no" on two four-year term limits — or eight consecutive years for their representatives.

A July 13 media release stated that the Low Energy Evaporative Fractionation System will employ “an advanced foam fractionation process and proprietary techniques” to treat landfill byproducts.

Officials from Lehigh and Northampton counties are slated to gather at 11 a.m. Aug. 2 at 100 W. Lehigh St. in Bethlehem for a news conference focused on the new project, “Lehigh Valley Breathes.”

The average price for a gallon of gas in Pennsylvania is now 10 cents higher this week, and experts say the pain at the pump is likely to continue.

The Lehigh Valley is preparing for its first official heat wave of the year, with a stretch of 90°+ degree temperatures expected. A heat advisory is in effect from 11 a.m. Thursday to 10 p.m. Friday.

Environmental and county officials this week began dismantling a dam over Bushkill Creek in an effort to restore the creek. The removal will improve water quality, stormwater function and connectivity for fish and other organisms.

“The pleasant stretch of weather we encountered early in the week is beyond us,” the National Weather Service said in its latest forecast discussion, with the Lehigh Valley at risk of excessive rainfall Wednesday.

After a raging fire on Saturday night destroyed his Center Valley barn, tractors, trucks and equipment, Leroy C. Stahler Jr. vows to rebuild and continue the Stahler family legacy of farming, said his daughter, Tracy Beers.

While monitoring continues, Lehigh Valley Breathes officials used the most recent project update to explain results from the research this spring at Lehigh University.

When all was said and done, May was the Lehigh Valley’s sixth consecutive warmer-than-normal month, with an average temperature of 63.4 degrees – or 1.4 degrees above normal. So what will summer bring?

Voyager 1 is now the furthest man-made object from Earth, having traveled to a distance of around 15 billion miles away.

During this year’s spring migration count, which runs from April 1 through mid-May, Hawk Mountain volunteers and staff tallied 1,001 birds of prey.

East Penn School District is seeking proposals for a potential solar farm near the Macungie and Shoemaker Elementary School buildings.

Northampton County Park and Recreation Division will host the Greenways Jamboree Celebration, marking their 50th anniversary, in tandem with the 20th anniversary of the Lehigh Valley Greenways Conservation Landscape Partnership and the 28th Annual Lehigh River Sojourn.

Three Lehigh Valley researchers are arguing bird-strike fatalities are much higher than we might think. They recently published a peer-reviewed study showing bird deaths from window strikes are nearly double previous estimates, and likely higher.

The colleges have formed a partnership to build and bring online a solar facility in western Kentucky. When completed, the facility will offset electricity usage at the institutions, effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation to zero.

The main threat will come later Monday and Monday night with a cold front that creates the possibility of strong winds and hail – even a tornado, said meteorologist Bobby Martrich of EPAWA Weather Consulting.