Schuylkill County Weather Forecast

By:  Monsoon Mike

Happy New Year to all my readers!

Two big stories in our forecast are snow on Thursday and extreme cold to end the week. The cold I'm certain about. The snow, not so much.

Models have considerably backed off on what they yesterday thought was going to be a major snowstorm, much as I thought would happen given the lack of true atmospheric blocking.

The result I think will be a general 1 to 3 or 2 to 4 inches across the region on Thursday and Friday. Key times Thursday p.m. into early Friday a.m. With the fickle nature of the models on this storm, however, I only give this forecast about a 60 percent certainty at this point. Be sure to follow my fan page for the latest updates.

Following this fairly minor to low-end moderate snowfall will be some of the coldest air we've seen in this area for quite a while. Expect subzero lows and highs barely out of the single digits and teens to wrap up the week!

Officials Sworn in Today At Courthouse

This morning, two elected Schuylkill County Officials were sworn in.

Both John Domalakes and Christine Holman were sworn in.

John Domalakes was sworn in as the Schuylkill County Judge after retaining his  position in the November election. 

Christine Holman was sworn in as the new Schuylkill County District Attorney.

The images below are from Christine Holman's swearing in.

Pictures from L David Truskowsky

One Person Killed on Interstate 81 Crash

Mahanoy City crews were called to the Southbound Milemarker 129.5 Tuesday morning for a crash with ejection.

One person has been confirmed to have died in the crash.  They were pronounced dead by Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner David Truskowsky.

State Police are reported to be investigating the crash.

WNEP is reporting that the man who died was Ralph Rumbel of Ringtown.

3 Alarm Fire Destroys Homes in Shenandoah

Photo from Schuylkill County Firewire

Around 10am, crews were called to 112 South Grant St. Shenandoah for a structure fire.  When crews arrived they found heavy fire in the rear of the structure.  The home was said to be unoccupied.

The fire also spread to another unoccupied home at  110 South Grant and to 114 South Grant Street which was occupied.

The fire call originally came in with entrapment but that turned out to be false.

One dog was rescued from the occupied home.

The fire hit a 3rd alarm after crews needed additional help from around the area for assistance.

No cause has been determined for the blaze at this time.

Schuylkill County Weather Forecast

By:  Monsoon Mike

Ok Ok Ok! Time for Monsoon Mike's Weather Headquarters to bring some reason into mass hysteria that seems to have broken out this afternoon on some of the competing weather boards. The excitement stems from the fact that the one holdout model on the storm has suddenly jumped on board with a major snowstorm for Thursday and because of that, Monsoon Headquarters hotlines have been bombarded with calls, messages, and texts this afternoon asking if I am on board. The answer is maybe, but not quite. (Don't you love how us weather gurus talk?) LOL 

Seriously, the GFS coming on board today is convincing, however, let me say this loud and clear: WE ARE STILL THREE DAYS OUT. It seriously concerns me when there is model consensus three days out. There are at least 10+ more model runs before the snow even starts falling and as good weather prognosticators, we have to put computers aside sometimes and use reason. The lack of a pure blocking pattern STILL indicates to me that this WON'T be a huge event for us. 2 to 4 inches? 3 to 6? Sure. Quite possible. Huge snowstorm? Doubtful. Nevertheless, you know the old joke of the guy in the flood who ignored a rescue boat, rescue helicopter, etc. saying "God will take care of me" and then wound up dying and said to God "why didn't you take care of me" and God said "heck, I sent you a boat and a helicopter." LOL Well, along those lines, I can't ignore these quite convincing signs of a potential good snowstorm, so I am not ignoring them. I'm just being quite cautious at this point. 

Talk to you again New Year's Eve!

The Restaurant/Organization Voted Best Breakfast in Schuylkill County is . . . .

Over the weekend, we polled our followers on our Facebook page and asked our readers:

What restaurant/organization serves the best breakfast in Schuylkill County?

(Drum roll please) And the winner is:

Attention Pine Grove Area - 345 Exchange - 911 is down

If you know someone in the Pine Grove area, in the 345 exchange, who may not be a Facebook user, please contact them and let them know that their "911" system is down. For any emergency they need to call direct to their local fire company, or contact the 911 center at 570-628-3792. Even if they do use Facebook, share this post on their page just to help make sure they get the info!