'Not the best weekend ahead' as rain arrives, temperatures drop

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Toasty has been the word to describe the Lehigh Valley’s weather this week, but we’re about to cool off in a big way.

The week started with a bang as a record high temperature of 88 degrees was set in Allentown on Monday, breaking the record of 86 for the date set in 1974.

The summerlike trend continued with temperatures the first few days of May averaging 9.8 degrees above normal.

But the National Weather Service says a series of cold fronts will approach this weekend, with the second and stronger of the two stalling out nearby early next week.

Overall, the emerging pattern will bring a strong contrast in temperatures from where we were to where we’ll end up.

‘We’ve certainly had better spring weekends’

The weekend won’t be a washout, the weather service said on X early Friday, but we’ve certainly had better spring weekends.

Similarly, the latest forecast discussion described the weekend ahead as, “Not the best weather-wise, but not necessarily terrible either.”

EPAWA meteorologist Bobby Martrich also called Friday “the last nice day through the weekend.”

“The weekend, I have no way to sugarcoat this, is not going to be that great,” Martrich said in his latest video update.

He described an onshore flow — occurring when air moves from sea to land — starting to influence parts of the area Friday.

“We’re going to have temperatures not nearly as warm as they were,” he said, describing a spread in temperatures of 68 to 78 from northeast to southwest, with the Lehigh Valley on the lower end of those numbers.

Highs are expected to top out around 69 degrees, about 15 degrees lower than Thursday.

Here comes the rain

A weakening cold front is expected to approach on Saturday, with some showers moving through ahead of it.

The best chance for precipitation will be west of the Interstate 95 corridor, according to the weather service, but forecasters said they “can’t rule out some light rain across the area.”

It’s expected to be cloudy and cool with temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s.

Showers are expected to become more widespread by Saturday night through Sunday night as a stronger cold front approaches.

The Sunday morning time frame looks wet, and a few rumbles of thunder might be heard with passing showers on Sunday afternoon and evening.

Unsettled conditions are also expected for most of next week as a boundary stalls out over the region, the weather service said, with rain chances in the forecast each day.