Snow, ice could impact holiday travel in southcentral PA

Abbey Zelko
York Daily Record
Storms could bring snow, ice and rain to southcentral Pennsylvania in the days leading up to Christmas.

Traveling for the holidays? 

Be prepared for winter weather. Forecasters say snow and ice could be on the way. 

Multiple weather systems are projected to move north from the southwest in the days leading up to Christmas, according to AccuWeather senior meteorologist and lead long-range forecaster Paul Pastelok.

More:Welcome to winter: More snow in the forecast this week for Central PA

The first is expected to arrive in the area around Dec. 22 and will most likely bring rain, Pastelok said. But, the second could bring snow or ice to the area late Dec. 23 into Christmas Eve.

The chance of snow is 40 to 50 percent in southcentral Pennsylvania and even higher – 70 to 80 percent – north of I-80, Pastelok said.

Inch-count predictions were not available.

It’s not clear yet whether the southcentral region of the state will get more snow, ice or rain, Pastelok said.

“When you have several systems instead of one, it makes it very difficult to forecast,” he said.

More:Where to see Christmas lights in York County in 2017 (updated)

But, he is “pretty confident” that the area will get some type of precipitation leading up to Christmas that could lead to travel issues as people head home or out to visit for the holidays.

“It does look like travel issues no matter what,” Pastelok said. “Wet roadways or slick or icy roadways.”

Christmas Day is projected to be cloudy and damp with temperatures in the low 40s.

After the holiday, forecasters are watching another system traveling on a similar path from the south that could again impact post-holiday travel with more snow, ice and rain on the 26th or 27th.

Also of interest, photos of the first snow at Roundtop Mountain Resort: