7:00 AM | ***Quick thumping of snow mid-to-late afternoon/early evening on Saturday...heavy rain Saturday night...back to some ice, snow early Sunday...brutal cold Sunday night/Monday***

6-Day Philadelphia Forecast

Today

Early morning clouds will give way to partly-to-mostly sunny skies later in the day, it’ll turn slightly milder in the afternoon with highs near the 40 degree mark

Tonight

Partly cloudy and cold, lows in the mid-to-upper 20’s

Saturday

Becoming cloudy, cold, snow is likely to develop in the mid-to-late afternoon, low-to-mid 30’s for afternoon highs

Saturday Night

Snow or a wintry mix early tomorrow night transitions to rain, heavy at times, potential total snow accumulations before the changeover on the order of 2-5 inches with those higher amounts to the north and west, the rain can freeze on some surfaces in the overnight hours to the north and west, near 30 degrees for lows

Sunday

A wintry mix that likely changes to snow before winding down, additional minor accumulations of snow and ice are possible, becoming windy, temperatures near freezing early in the day and they'll drop sharply later in the day

Monday

Bitter cold with mainly sunny skies, temperatures likely to do no better than the middle teens for highs and a brisk NW wind will generate even lower wind chill values (easily the coldest day of the year so far)

Tuesday

Mainly sunny, blustery, still very cold, upper 20’s

Wednesday

Mainly cloudy, cold, chance of rain and/or snow, near 40 degrees

Discussion

A significant winter storm will impact the region from Saturday afternoon into Sunday with accumulating snow, mixed precipitation and heavy rain. Snow should arrive during the mid-to-late afternoon hours on Saturday and continue into the early evening before transitioning to rain later tomorrow night which can fall heavily at times. The transition period can also feature some sleet and/or freezing rain and, in fact, the rain can freeze on some surfaces into the overnight hours in some of the northern and western suburbs. The snow at the onset of this storm can quickly accumulate before the transition to anywhere from 2 inches (south and east) to as much as 5 inches (north and west). On the backside of the storm, much colder air will pour into the region on Sunday and the rain is likely to change to sleet/freezing rain and then to snow before the precipitation winds down with minor additional accumulations possible. As the Arctic air floods the region later Sunday, N-NW winds will intensify, temperatures will plunge and any wet or slushy surfaces will quickly ice-up. The plummet in temperatures will continue on Sunday night and overnight lows will likely be in the lower single digits come early Monday – easily the coldest day of the year so far - and afternoon highs will do no better than the middle teens.

Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Perspecta, Inc.
perspectaweather.com