It's no joke: Weather forecasters expect an April Fool's Day snow storm.

How much snow depends on the geographic area and on who's doing the forecasting. AccuWeather meteorologists are expecting 5.1 inches of snow to fall in the Lehighton area from about 8 p.m. today through Friday morning. AccuWeather's totals vary from 4.2 in Tamaqua to 5.3 inches in Albrightsville.On the other hand, the federal government's National Weather Service calls for 3-5 inches to fall in the Lehighton area tonight into Friday morning, with an additional to 3 inches Friday morning. The NWS is forecasting 5-7 inches tonight in Tamaqua, with an additional 1-3 inches Friday. In Albrightsville, government meteorologists expect 4-8 inches tonight and an additional 2-4 inches Friday morning.The snow is expected to start between 8-10 p.m. tonight. Both sets of forecasters agree that rain will fall today, and mix in with the snow tonight and tomorrow.Many readers in the TIMES NEWS coverage area woke this morning to find snow or ice. In Summit Hill, sleet overnight slicked driveways and sidewalks. In Albrightsville, about an inch of heavy, wet snow made the morning commute messy.In most areas, though, including Tamaqua, the only precipitation was a light rainfall.Although snow will almost certainly fall, it won't stick around for long. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 41 degrees today and 40 degrees on Friday, according to AccuWeather, with nighttime temperatures of 30 degrees and 27 degrees, respectively. The NWS is calling for similar temperatures.Expect springlike weather for the weekend.The NWS anticipates 20 percent chance of rain/snow Friday afternoon and evening and a 30 percent chance on Saturday, with temperatures in the low 40s each day. Sunday's weather is expected to be spring-perfect, sunny and breezy, with a high of 49 degrees.AccuWeather anticipates much the same weather.Of course, these were the forecasts as of early Thursday morning. That leaves plenty of time for Mother Nature to pull an April Fool's prank for Friday.