ALLENTOWN, Pa. — As wet drops of melting snow fell from trees, roofs and power wires late Tuesday morning, Lehigh Valley residents worked to clean off their cars, walkways and property after heaps of snow fell overnight.
But as many in downtown Allentown, Easton and elsewhere could be seen cleaning pounds of snow off of their cars, streets already were turning from slush to water in the sunny afternoon.
In Easton, residents began to trickle out of their homes — most of them with either a dog or a shovel.
Met-Ed reported several power outages in the Easton area and more than 3,300 still in Northampton County by late Tuesday afternoon.
“You know, some hot cocoa and some movies and take it easy.”Easton resident Eamon Kinsman
The snowstorm was “fast and furious,” Easton resident Eamon Kinsman said, taking a break from clearing sidewalks near Skeggy’s Axe House in Centre Square.
“This is just one of those big, quick, heavy snow, wet snow, snowstorms.”
Once the sidewalk was clear, he said, he looked forward to a laid-back day with his family.
“We can usually head up to Upper Hackett Park," Kinsman said. "I have some boys at home — 11 and 9 and 18 [years old] — and they'll go up and slide their brains out and then we'll come home and chill out.
“You know, some hot cocoa and some movies and take it easy.”
That seemed to be the way Lehigh Valley residents were handling Tuesday's snow — with some resignation, but also without too much concern.
Shoveling amid melting
With highs in the high 30s and sunny during the afternoon, residents on Allentown's Turner Street, such as Angeo Santana, had an easier time shoveling what had already turned to a small stream of water underneath.
By midday, Hamilton Boulevard and other major roads were seeing limited traffic, but still were lined with cars covered in snow.
Sidewalks ranged from well-cleaned to packed with snow or chilly slip and slides.
"Worse is when it hits like 10 degrees when it freezes to the floor, that's when it gets really bad."Orlando Laureano, a worker at the Americus Hotel in Allentown
"They cleaned it up pretty fast, but when I came in at seven this morning there was snow everywhere," Orlando Laureano, a worker at the Americus Hotel in Allentown said.
Laureano said it didn't feel too much worse than when snow happened last year, and with the warm weather, it was easier to get wrapped up.
"Worse is when it hits like 10 degrees when it freezes to the floor, that's when it gets really bad," Laureano said.
Some, though, such as a crew of Y&J contractors, had been out since early in the morning shoveling and snowblowing parking lots and sidewalks near St. Luke's University Health Network's Allentown campus.
"We started at 5," Jonathan, one of the crew members, said. He noted the wet snow made it a bit harder to pick up at time.
"They had big machines running all morning, but we're out cleaning what's left over."
'Nice while it lasts'
Back in Easton, resident Keenan Randolph, out grabbing a coffee and walking a Shiba Inu named Gatsby, said he can only recall one bigger snowstorm in his six years in the city.
That was when a storm dropped more than 2 feet of snow in 2021, he said.
“We haven't really had snow in what, like three years?" Randolph said. It's nice while it lasts.
“It’s quiet down here when it snows,” a welcome rarity in the busy neighborhood, he said.
“We're just out here to make sure people get around safe if they come out."Easton Ambassadors team leader Jeffrey Karp
Among the shovelers were volunteer Easton Ambassadors in their distinctive red coats, moving from intersection to intersection clearing snow.
“I love doing this job because I love being outside — all winter, all summer — and I love the city of Easton,” ambassador Carlos Malson said.
Shoveling snow, he said, is just one of the ways he and other volunteers can make the city a better place for residents.
“We're just out here to make sure people get around safe if they come out,” said Easton Ambassadors team leader Jeffrey Karp.
On his first day as an ambassador, Karp said, more than 2 feet of snow fell on Easton. After that experience, the piled sidewalks he faced Tuesday were not especially daunting.
