Monday, April 15, 2013
It's not going to be the nicest of weeks, at times, but generally mild temperatures will dominate the upcoming weather pattern.
After a pair of record highs last week in Philadelphia, getting to 84 on Tuesday and 89 on Wednesday, another mild week is ahead of us. It will not be as warm as last week (sorry, summer fans) but it will still be mild for the most part around the region through Friday as high temperatures get into the 60s most days, with a couple of chances at 70 between Tuesday and Friday. We have 70 or higher in the forecast for Thursday and Friday at this point, but Tuesday and Wednesday are days when we may also hit that mark. Three different weather features will work through the region this week―the first, a weak system on Monday night and Tuesday, pushes up the East Coast from the South and will bring rain and drizzle to the region. It wouldn't …
Monday, April 8, 2013
After a March that felt more like January, April is feeling more like May with a surge of warmth ahead.
Our region dealt with snow a couple of weeks ago. This week, the burst of spring warmth will flood the region and send pollen counts soaring and have people scurrying for their prefered allergy medicine. A surge of warmth is going to push into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast for at least a couple of days and the first 70 degree days of the year are in the forecast. A frontal boundary will loom to our north starting Monday night and early Tuesday, providing for a path for rain and thunder to push east across the northern tier of Pennsylvania. As of now, it looks like the frontal boundary stays just far enough north of our region to allow us to remain in a warm pattern through much of the week. However, given it's still early April and …
Monday, March 11, 2013
A spring in our step with warmth early this week will be replaced by a return of late winter chill for the end of the work week and St. Patrick's Day weekend.
Last year, Philadelphia had cracked 70 degrees three times by the middle of this month and enjoyed a 71-degree St. Patrick's Day that had trees flowering in Center City and had the region enjoying what was arguably May in March. Despite the tease of warmth we got over the weekend and will enjoy through tomorrow, such thoughts of a warm surge on the level of last year should probably be scuttled now. Another slap of crispness awaits on Tuesday with a cold front, followed by a slow and steady decline in temperatures as colder northwest winds await. Tuesday's front will bring about a half inch or so of rain as it crosses the region, perhaps with one last push towards or just above 60 for highs...although as of now the earlier in the day …
Monday, March 4, 2013
We will be on the northern fringes of a storm system on Wednesday, with some snow or rain expected. Worst impacts stay south of our area.
A large storm will cross the country through early Thursday, bringing snow and rain in its path as it marches southeast and then east once it gets into the Ohio Valley. This storm will bring varied levels of impact to the region, with the worst to our south, southwest, and along the coast. Locally, winds will gust to 40 mph and we'll get intervals of rain and snow showers, especially as one gets closer to Philadelphia. The far northern parts of the suburban counties may not see that much precipitation. One of the reasons that the storm may not spread precipitation that far north across the region is the presence of a large area of high pressure in Eastern Canada. It will prevent the storm from tracking too far north and will generally send…
Monday, February 25, 2013
March's weather will not start on a lionish note in all likelihood but it appears a cold cat is probably more likely for an analogy as the calendar page changes.
As the calendar eases out of winter and toward spring, Mother Nature is making the transition more slowly than usual. A year ago at this time, we were in the midst of a stretch of three days out of six of 60 degree or warmer days. But outside of Wednesday's flirtation with the upper 50s, no such luck of warmth is in sight for the next two weeks, as the atmospheric pattern after a storm system moves through in the middle of this week is a morass of stale late winter and delayed spring. If you like warmth at this time of the year, feel free to wait a couple of weeks, as the middle of March should bring a fling of warmth our way. How long that fling lasts is still very much to be determined, but it doesn't look like the whole of March will …
Monday, February 18, 2013
A couple of storm systems will bring unsettled weather on Tuesday and Friday, with temperatures starting cold and ending up not so bad by week's end.
The last four weeks have featured a rather typical winter in terms of temperatures. We might not have had the levels of snow some want, but temperatures over the past 30 days have averaged out to where they should for the coldest stretches of winter. This week is going to feature a relaxation of some of the wind-whipped cold that frosted us on Sunday. It's not out of the realm of possibility that temperatures could end up near 50 by Tuesday afternoon and again by Saturday afternoon in parts of the region. This week will feature a pair of storm systems that will work through the region ― one on Tuesday that will bring rain in the midday and afternoon hours followed by a second storm system that will bring either rain or snow showers to …
Monday, February 4, 2013
Last week's weather yo-yo gets replaced by an active pattern with a pair of clippers and perhaps a larger storm on Friday.
Believe it or not, we've had accumulating snow on four occasions around the region over the past week. Those accumulating snows have generally amounted to very little ― an inch here, a few tenths there, and in Philadelphia they've picked up a whopping one inch from four separate snowfalls over the past seven days. This week brings more of the same to start ― a couple of weak systems on Monday night and again on Wednesday morning that could bring an inch or two of snow to parts of the region. These fast-moving, moisture-short clippers don't drop much snow usually, although with enough dynamics some spots can get a fair amount of snow (such as Cape May this past Friday). These two systems won't be as dynamic as that system but snow …
Monday, January 28, 2013
From winter to soaking rain to winter in a few days time. A wild ride of weather ahead this week!
Simply put, this week's weather will have us on a bit of a roller coaster. The recent spell of cold eases out for a couple of days before a second round of cold air pushes in after a soaking rain on Wednesday afternoon and evening. We go from winter to soaker to winter within the course of a week. At least you can't argue that the weather pattern ahead is boring! Monday's precipitation plethora is due to warm air pushing in aloft over the cold air in place at the surface. Temperatures will be slower to warm above freezing the farther north and west you are from the city, with the result being some periods of freezing rain or freezing drizzle that could lead to slippery travel for a time during the morning and early afternoon before …
Monday, January 21, 2013
Winter's making a prolonged appearance this week...and it could snow more than once before the week is out.
The incoming cold regime will bring some rather cold temperatures by Philadelphia standards to our region ― highs on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday may not break 30 degrees as we get in the grip of some pretty cold air across the eastern half of the nation. This cold has been largely in the Great Basin so far this month ― parts of Nevada are running more than twenty degrees below normal! Temperatures here won't be that cold, but could go down to ten degrees colder than average over the coming week. Along with the incoming cold, light snow and flurries could cross the region later on Monday with a weak clipper and also on Wednesday with a relatively weak disturbance. Monday's system may be more substantive than Wednesday's but either …
Monday, January 14, 2013
After flirting with March-like temperatures, we're going to return to winter around the Delaware Valley, with colder temperatures lurking down the line.
Reality in January isn't temperatures in the 50s or even 60s. "Normal" is highs in the 30s to around 40, which is the air that's more likely in our cards over the coming days. A cold front slides on through during the course of Monday and begins the downward descent in temperatures, with our temperatures dropping from the upper half of the 50s on Monday morning to lower 30s around the region by Tuesday morning. Along with the frontal passage, a wave of energy will push northeast along the front and spread light rain and, perhaps, some light snow along with it. Given the push of the front southeast through the region, the shield of light rain and snow may miss the northwest 'burbs of Philadelphia but be better confined to South Jersey and …
Jack Me'hoffer
3:39 pm on Monday, February 18, 2013
Its always hot in my trousers! more ›