7:00 AM | ****Accumulating snow, powerful winds, and bitter cold...impacts of an explosive ocean storm****
Paul Dorian
6-Day forecast for the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania metro region
Today
Mainly cloudy, cold, occasional snow is going to break out this morning and small accumulations are likely, highs near 35 degrees; Calm conditions in the morning, N-NW winds around 5 mph this afternoon
Tonight
Mainly cloudy, cold, periods of snow, becoming windy, lows not far from 20 degrees
Saturday
Mainly cloudy, very windy, cold, periods of snow mainly in the morning, lower 20’s for highs
Saturday Night
Clearing skies, bitter cold, windy, near 10 degrees for late night lows with brutal wind chills
Sunday
Mainly sunny, cold, mid-to-upper 20’s
Monday
Mainly sunny, cold, mid-to-upper 30’s
Tuesday
Mainly sunny, a bit milder, near 40 degrees
Wednesday
Mainly cloudy, mild, chance of showers, upper 40’s
Discussion
An ocean storm will intensify rapidly over the next 36 hours or so and it will have a big impact on the Northeast US and also on much of the eastern Mid-Atlantic region. Some snow will break out here this morning associated with an Arctic front and small accumulations are likely...watch for slippery spots on the roads. The steadier and heavier snow associated with the developing storm should fall from this evening into mid-day Saturday. The winds will increase in intensity as well during this storm as a very strong pressure gradient will form between the strengthening low pressure and strong high pressure over southeastern Canada. A very cold (and dry) air mass will be in place during much of the storm resulting in a drier, fluffier type of snow and temperatures tomorrow night can plunge to the upper single digits in some spots. In fact, this cold air mass will dive all the way down into southern Florida this weekend on the heels of the storm. The estimate for snow accumulations across our region is 3-8 inches with the higher amounts in that range to the south and east and the lesser amounts to the north and west. Coastal New Jersey is in store for an all-out blizzard with at least 8-16 inches of snow - possibly and tremendous winds. A couple of notes, there is likely to be a sharp snow accumulation gradient with this storm and a small shift in the currently projected storm track and/or the timing of the intensification can make a big difference in these snowfall estimates in a given spot.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield Weather