7:00 AM | *****Intense Arctic blast arrives this morning...temperatures will crash in the immediate aftermath of the frontal passage...bitter cold weekend to follow*****

6-Day forecast for the Philadelphia, PA metro region

Today

Mainly cloudy and mild early this morning with some additional rainfall possible, maybe even an early day thunderstorm…a powerful Arctic front blasts through the region later this morning and temperatures will absolutely crash – perhaps by more than thirty degrees in just a short period of time, watch for a quick freeze-up on roadways and a burst of snow can produce a coating to an inch or two, very windy with gusts possible to 50 mph, temperatures reach the teens or even lower by late in the afternoon and dangerous wind chills will develop of well below zero

Tonight

Partly cloudy, windy, bitter cold, temperatures bottom out in the single digits, dangerous wind chill levels of well below zero

Saturday

Partly sunny, windy, frigid cold, temperatures hold in the teens for highs, dangerous wind chill levels of well below zero

Saturday Night             

Partly cloudy, still windy and bitter cold, lows not far from 10 degrees

Sunday

Mainly sunny, windy, very cold, low-to-mid 20’s for highs

Monday

Mainly sunny, very cold, mid-to-upper 20’s

Tuesday

Mainly sunny, very cold, near freezing

Wednesday

Mainly sunny, not quite as harsh, upper 30’s

Discussion              

The leading edge of an intensely cold Arctic air mass will reach the Philly metro region later this morning. The powerful Arctic surface front will have quite a dramatic passage with strong and potentially damaging winds shifting to a W-NW direction, plunging temperatures as much as 30+ degrees in just a short time and this can cause a quick freeze-up or “flash freeze” of any lingering wet spots on roadways from the prior rainfall. In addition, there can be a burst of snow in the immediate aftermath of the frontal passage potentially producing a quick accumulation of a coating to an inch or two adding to the potential difficult travel conditions. Temperatures will continue to drop sharply later today and tonight bottoming out in the single digits by Saturday morning and winds will remain very strong producing dangerous wind chill values of well below zero. This will turn out to be the coldest Christmas Eve (Saturday) and Christmas Day (Sunday) in many years across much of the eastern half of the country.

Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield Weather