7:00 AM | Bitter cold for another day...some moderation on Wednesday and then back in the deep freeze; close call early Thursday continues to bear watching
Paul Dorian
6-Day Philly Forecast
Today
Mainly sunny, still very cold, wind chills will not be an issue today as winds should be quite light, highs in the low 20's
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, quite cold, maybe a few flurries late, lows in the mid-to-upper teens
Wednesday
Partly sunny, not as harsh, mid 30’s
Wednesday Night
Becoming mostly cloudy, breezy, quite cold, mid teens
Thursday
Clouds early and maybe a snow shower or two, becoming partly sunny in the afternoon, very cold, breezy, low 20's
Friday
Mostly sunny, still quite cold, mid 20’s
Saturday
Partly sunny, not as harsh, near 30 degrees
Sunday
Partly sunny, cold, chance for rain or snow late, upper 30’s
Discussion
The beat goes on as far as the extreme cold is concerned in the eastern US. Temperatures this morning reached record low levels in many areas and, to make matters worse, there is accumulating snow falling as far south as Georgia. A small sampling of today's impressive record low temperatures include the following:
1) Pittsburgh, PA breaks a record held since 1914 (new record -9 degrees, old record -2 degrees) 2) Dulles Airport, VA absolutely annihilates the previous record by 18 degrees when it bottomed out at -4 degrees earlier today (old record of +14 degrees was set in 1967) 3) Buffalo, NY breaks a record held since 1889 by dropping to -7 degrees 4) Chicopee, MA breaks a record by 14 degrees (new record is -19 degrees, old record was -5 degrees set in 1948) 5) Windsor Locks, CT sets record at -8 degrees (old record of -4 degrees was set in 1907) 6) JFK Airport in NYC dropped to a record low of 7 degrees breaking the old record of 14 degrees set in 1968 Finally, while not a record, the low temperature this morning in Punxsutawney, PA was -21 degrees and the groundhog was heard saying "I told you so".
Temperatures here today will struggle to reach the lower 20's, but at least the winds will be on the light side so wind chills will not be much of an issue. Noticeable modification will take place on Wednesday ahead of the next Arctic front, but we'll get right back into the deep freeze during the second half of the week. An area of moisture that continues to bear watching will scoot just to our southeast early Thursday, but it could come just close enough to throw some snow showers into portions of the Mid-Atlantic region and any slight shift in the storm track could have an important impact on our local forecast.