A two-day weekend storm that dumped between 8 to 10 inches of snow throughout most parts of the region caught many off guard.

Now, dangerously cold temperatures are expected to follow, as the National Weather Service has issued a cold weather advisory starting tonight.

The weekend storm likely caught many by surprise, which Alex DaSilva, a meteorologist with AccuWeather, attributed to things trending higher than the initial forecast.

“Two days ago, Allentown got around 5 inches with that kind of first batch of snow that came through the area,” DaSilva said. “That snow band two days ago kind of stuck around a little bit longer than initially thought; it kind of just hung around and lingered, and that‘s what allowed us to get those higher snowfall totals.”

DaSilva added that the snow did stick around a little longer, which resulted in Sunday’s coastal storm.

“Within the 24 hours proceeding the storm, things all of a sudden started to trend west, the snow got all the way in there,” he said. “That’s the tricky thing with the coastal storm, is 50 miles can make all the difference.”

DaSilva noted that areas to the west didn’t get a lot of snowfall, basically a coating to an inch, while those closer to the Allentown area received 3-4 inches on Sunday.

“That’s why it’s very important to follow the forecast very carefully; if it’s just a little shift in the track, it can bring a little more snowfall, or a little less snowfall,” he said. “We always talked about that potential that if the storm comes a little closer to the west, we have to watch out.”

Cleaning up

Pennsylvania State Trooper Anthony Petroski, community services officer for Troop N, said that troopers worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and local towing services to ensure motorists could proceed with their travels.

“As with any snow amounts, the roads were affected and troopers dealt with numerous traffic related incidents over this past weekend,” Petroski said. “With the assistance of PennDOT and local tow services, we were able to handle these incidents in a timely manner, with the goal of reopening the roadways and allowing motorists to continue their travels.”

To the south, a 12-vehicle crash tied up traffic on Interstate 78 east in Berks County on Saturday. Route 309 was closed in West Penn Township, as were other roads until crews were able to clear snow.

Sean Brown, PennDOT spokesperson, said the crash on 78 was the only major crash he heard of over the weekend.

“With back to back storms and additional snow coming today in some of the northern areas, PennDOT crews have been on 12 hour shifts so that all available plow trucks are being utilized for storm clean-up,” Brown said. “Crews will be out treating state roadway until all roads are clear and any additional winter weather is clean-up.”

Lehighton Borough Manager Dane DeWire on Monday reported no difficulties with borough streets as crews worked over the weekend to clean up roadways.

“I checked in with my public works team each day to check in, and no issues arose,” DeWire said. “Over 140 hours of overtime were logged between both storms and eight employees.”

Borough road crews in Tamaqua worked hard to keep up with two rounds of snow dropped on streets this weekend.

Residents can help address other areas with snow accumulation.

“During the winter season, we would appreciate everyone’s help with clearing snow and ice from around fire hydrants and storm drains,” borough Manager Kevin Steigerwalt said.

Tamaqua residents are also reminded that they must clear snow from their sidewalks within 24 hours after a storm.

“Our code enforcement department will be randomly checking sidewalks after a storm,” Steigerwalt noted.

The inclement weather resulted in the cancellation of several America250PA kickoffs on Sunday to be postponed, and several church services were canceled or moved online.

Schools were closed today for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, giving students an extra day to frolic around in the snow.

Extreme cold on the way

DaSilva advised that we’re about to enter a much colder weather pattern for the remainder of the month.

“We could potentially be dealing with dangerous cold,” he said. “The theme for rest of the month is going to be some extremely cold weather, and some dangerous cold, especially during those overnight lows; at times it’s going to be windy, with real feel (temperatures) below zero.”

DaSilva said today’s high was expected to reach 31, with a low down to 9 degrees. Tuesday’s high will only reach 21, with a low of 1; Wednesday 32 for a high, with 22 for a low; Thursday reaches 41, with a low of 17; Friday tops out at 31, with a low of 1.

Even colder weather is on tap for this coming weekend, as DaSilva said the high on Saturday is 11, with a low of 1; Sunday’s high is 13, with a low of 5, and next week Monday the high is 19, with a low of 0.

“A lot of these days are going to be breezy,” he said. “It’s going to be really cold.”

To put that into perspective, DaSilva said the average high this time of year for Allentown is 38 degrees, while the average low is 21.

Which is all the more reason he cautioned people who need to be outside to take precautions and bundle up.

So, when is the next potential chance for any accumulating snow could come next weekend.

“It looks like the next opportunity could be Saturday afternoon into Sunday,” he said. “There’s definitely a risk of an accumulating snow.”

Jill Whalen contributed to this report.