Slick roads expected in area tonight

Drivers may be in for slick roads tonight as a storm system moves into the area this afternoon.

A winter weather advisory will go into effect for Carbon, Monroe, Lehigh and Northampton counties at 7 p.m. and last until 6 p.m. Tuesday.

According to the National Weather Service, which issued the advisory, light snow or mixed precipitation will begin to fall late this afternoon or early this evening as temperatures hover above the freezing mark. It is expected to change over to freezing rain and drizzle tonight and linger into Tuesday. A transition to rain may occur during the day Tuesday.

Snow accumulation is expected to be around one inch, followed by the possibility of up to one-quarter inch of ice before the storm is over.

The active winter weather pattern will give way to the potential of snow showers over the next few days.

Tuesday evening's forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of rain and snow, changing over to all snow after 7 p.m. On Wednesday, there is a 50 percent chance of rain and snow showers until noon before turning cloudy and a high of 38. Another 50 percent chance of snow is possible on Thursday.

The weekend looks mostly cloudy with temperatures hovering in the mid-30s.

February has been an active month for winter weather.

Strong weather patterns have given way to a series of storms that have pounded the East coast over the last few weeks, shattering many winter weather records in some major cities.

Life in Philadelphia, Maryland and Washington D.C. grinded to a halt early this month as two strong storms dropped nearly four feet of snow.

The first storm on Feb. 6, grazed part of Northeast Pennsylvania, leaving only minimal accumulations, while areas farther south got the full impact of the system.

On Feb. 10, a second powerful storm that moved across the Mid-Atlantic region buried the TIMES NEWS coverage area in nearly two feet of snow. Crews worked diligently in the days that followed to remove excess snow from borough and township streets.

A third storm, which was supposed to drop up to eight inches on the area on Feb. 15 and 16, turned out to be a dud, as the low pressure system failed to form as predicted. Only a light dusting of snow fell at that time.

Meteorologists are stating that the active weather patterns are a result of the El Niño winter as well an active jet stream.