Sunshine turns to freezing temperatures ahead of snowy weekend

ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- We aren't off the hook from winter weather just yet, although many residents have enjoyed the recent warm temperatures.

Griffin Daly, the manager at Albright's Hardware and Garden in Allentown, says the store just packed up its winter gear.

"We're starting to think spring," Daly said.

And their customers are too.

"I got some tomato seeds and pepper seeds mainly to get ready to start planting," said Joshua Gabriel of Allentown.

However, with the predicted winter storm this weekend, Daly is now bringing back out the snow supplies.

"We do have rock salt magnesium calcium products. Pretty loaded and ready to roll," Daly said.

Both rain and snow are expected to impact the Lehigh Valley on Saturday.

Ron Young, a spokesperson for PennDOT, says they are getting ready for the storm before it arrives.

"All the trucks are loaded up and ready to go. Operators are starting their shifts late tonight," Young said.

Some leftover residual salt is currently still on the roads from the weather they had earlier this week.

When the snow moves in and temperatures start to drop, Young says salt trucks will hit the roads.

He adds they'll be keeping an eye on the wind, especially following the winter weather they had earlier this week.

"With more winds coming through and the weight of snow on the branches, be alert for trees coming down tomorrow as well," said Young.

Albright's is open until 6 p.m. on Friday, and they'll be open regardless of the weather on Saturday.

"The neighborhood relies on us. We rely on them. So we'll be open at 8 a.m., no problem," Daly said.

We aren't off the hook from winter weather just yet, although many residents have enjoyed the recent warm temperatures.

Chuck DePrince with DMI Home Supply in Ardmore said the weather has been misleading, and his store has left the salt and shovels easily accessible as they put out materials for spring.

"We put out all of our mulches and packed up all of the salts and ice melters and shovels and thought it was over, but it's not," said DePrince.

PENNDOT spokesperson Brad Rudolph said this winter is pretty average and that PENNDOT typically uses 80,000 tons of salt per winter.

He said currently, we are approaching that number.

PPL is bringing in 550 additional workers on Saturday to help customers with any potential outages.

If you lose power, you can report your outage online at pplelectric.com or text "Outage" to TXTPPL (898775).

PPL and PennDOT recommend always having an emergency kit on hand with food, water, flashlights, medication, and any pet supplies you may need.

You can keep up with the latest conditions and track plow trucks near you online through PennDOT.