6:15 AM | ***An icy mess possible tomorrow night/early Thursday...sleet/freezing rain can be preceded by snow...plain rain later Thursday...repeat scenario for the weekend...snow threat next week***

6-Day forecast for the Philadelphia, PA metro region

Today

Mainly sunny, breezy, a bit colder than Monday, highs in the mid-to-upper 40’s; NW winds increasing to around 10-20 mph

Tonight

Increasing clouds, brisk, cold, lows in the low-to-mid 20’s

Wednesday

Mainly cloudy, cold, chance of snow late in the day, middle 30’s for afternoon highs

Wednesday Night             

Snow, sleet and freezing rain, cold, watch for slippery spots, lows in the upper 20’s

Thursday

Mainly cloudy with rain or freezing rain becoming rain, milder late low-to-mid 40’s

Friday

Mainly sunny, breezy, colder, lower 40’s

Saturday

Becoming mainly cloudy, cold, chance of PM snow which can change to sleet and freezing rain at night, upper 30’s

Sunday

Mainly cloudy, becoming milder, chance of plain rain early, middle 40’s

Discussion

In just the next week or so, it appears there will be as many as three opportunities for snow, ice and rain in the Mid-Atlantic region. The first such opportunity will come from late tomorrow into early Thursday and this could turn out to be an icy mess for much of the Mid-Atlantic region leading to issues for the Thursday AM commute in the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor. The setup will include a cold frontal passage today that will be followed by an influx of fresh cold and dry air in the overnight hours while at the same time moisture begins to gather over the Tennessee Valley. This dense, cold air mass will be quite reluctant to give up its ground on Wednesday night as the moisture arrives and surface temperatures will be slow to climb to above freezing levels until later Thursday morning. At the onset of the precipitation later tomorrow, there can be a period of snow in some areas and plain rain with above-freezing temperatures is likely on the back end later Thursday.

Looking ahead, there can be a repeat performance in the Mid-Atlantic region during the upcoming weekend with “snow-to-sleet-to-freezing rain-to-plain rain” on the table. Looking even farther ahead, there may be an accumulating snow threat by the middle of next week in this on-going very active weather pattern.

Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield Weather