7:00 AM | ****Arctic front arrives this afternoon with potential damaging wind gusts, scattered snow showers and possible heavy snow squall...near zero degrees by late tonight****

6-Day Philadelphia Forecast

Today

Increasing clouds, quite cold, becoming windy with gusts to 50 mph, snow showers are possible this afternoon, perhaps even a heavy snow squall, highs in the mid-to-upper 20’s

Tonight

Becoming mainly clear, windy, bitterly cold with painfully cold wind chill values, lows near zero degrees

Thursday

Bitter cold, windy, mainly sunny skies, it’ll be a struggle for temperatures to reach the middle teens and wind chills will be painfully low

Thursday Night

Mainly clear, not as windy, bitter cold, single digits for late night lows

Friday

Becoming mainly cloudy, quite cold, chance for some afternoon snow, lower 20’s for afternoon highs

Saturday

Mainly sunny, cold, near 35 degrees

Sunday

Mainly sunny early, clouds late, not as cold, lower 40's

Monday

Partly sunny, milder, chance of showers, near 50 degrees

Discussion

The next 24 hours will bring weather to the Mid-Atlantic region that is not often seen around here. First, an Arctic front will blast through the region this afternoon and it could be accompanied by potentially damaging wind gusts of 50 mph or so, scattered snow showers, and perhaps a heavy snow squall. Any spot hit by a snow squall will see dramatically reduced visibility, strong winds, brief, but intense snowfall with a quick small accumulation and slippery roads. The most likely timing for this frontal passage is between noon and 4PM in the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor. Once the front clears the region, temperatures will plunge late in the day and early tonight reaching late night lows near zero degrees in many suburban locations along the I-95 corridor. Temperatures on Thursday will struggle to climb through the teens despite plenty of sunshine. Wind chills will be painfully cold tonight and on Thursday at levels well below zero. The winds lighten up tomorrow night, but temperatures can fall back to the single digits once again. A quick-hitting low pressure system could throw some snow our way on Friday afternoon. Elsewhere, extreme cold has grinded the Upper Midwest to a virtual standstill with most schools and businesses closed for the next couple of days. Wind chills have reached very dangerous levels with some spots at more than 60 degrees below zero and this type of cold can cause frostbite in just a matter of a few minutes.

Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Perspecta, Inc.
perspectaweather.com