Environment & Science

Wells Fargo Festplatz will host opening ceremonies Friday for Musikfest’s 40th year, but severe weather is targeting the region.

Called “Lehigh Valley Breathes,” the more than $100,000 project includes installing 40 PurpleAir monitors throughout the region. Officials plan to collect data for a year.

The update on the damage from the severe flash flooding that struck on July 16 has seen more municipal and residential damage costs.

A completely dry stretch of weather is almost unheard of this time of year, said meteorologist Bobby Martrich of EPAWA Weather Consulting, the official forecaster of Musikfest.

Pennsylvania may not be the most vulnerable state during the Atlantic hurricane season, but emergency planners were particularly blunt Monday about the dangers it faces.

The center's annual Bake Oven Knob Autumn Hawk Watch begins in just over two weeks. Officials are hosting an informational Zoom session at 7 p.m. Aug. 9 to share the history of the count and volunteer opportunities, as well as how to count migrating raptors and some tips for identification.

While the Canadian wildfire smoke is only the latest threat, experts and professionals said there are ways to monitor and improve the indoor air residents are breathing.

In the Lehigh Valley, one vape is thrown away every 105 seconds. When they end up as litter or in landfills, hazardous materials can leach into soil and contaminate groundwater.

Extending from Allentown to north of Coplay, the gap, made up of two main sections delineated by the Lehigh River, is expected to be closed in a little over a decade, officials said.

The roads were closed after damage inflicted by heavy rainfall on July 16.

Flooding from Hurricane Ida put the Saucon Creek retaining wall and nearby park pavilions out of commission in 2021. This year marks the first since then that the shelters will be up for rent again.

Crayola officials, along with PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center and local legislators, held an informational session Thursday on the company’s 3.53 megawatt solar farm.

The Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor this month launched the Quest for the Golden Grabber. In its second year, it's an effort to engage community members in a friendly competition while cleaning litter from the trail.

There were 15 Diamond Clover awardees this year, including two from Lehigh County. The award is the highest in Pennsylvania's 4-H program.

Northampton County will use a mix of local money and a federal grant to buy 43 acres of undeveloped land in Stockertown, officials announced. Officials did not identify the parcel they intend to buy.

The African penguin colony, off exhibit since early January because of bird flu, is back at the Lehigh Valley Zoo.

This week, a preview of confirmation hearings scheduled for Wednesday to confirm a new head for NASA. The nominee is well known to the Lehigh Valley.

City officials were ready in February to award a contract for a tree inventory in Allentown, but uncertainties caused by an order from President Donald Trump's administration forced them to pause that plan.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection last week launched the Child Care Lead Testing and Reduction grant program. Aimed at schools and childcare facilities, the program is focused on testing for, and remediating, lead in drinking water.

For the sixth year, Nurture Nature Center will hold the Youth Climate Summit of the Lehigh Valley. The free event aims to engage middle and high school students in climate change issues, as well as seek solutions.

If Mother Nature has anything to say about it, this could be an abbreviated peak bloom for the cherry blossoms in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas.

Cloud cover is likely to limit thunderstorm development Monday by acting as a cap, preventing the upward movement of warm, moist air needed to fuel thunderstorms.