6:00 AM | *****Bitter cold through tonight with single digit lows...major winter storm this weekend to impact many parts of the nation...significant snowstorm on the table for Mid-Atlantic*****
Paul Dorian
6-Day forecast for the Philadelphia, PA metro region
Today
Mainly sunny, windy, bitter cold, highs near 20 degrees with below zero wind chills; W-NW winds around 10-20 mph; gusts to 25 mph
Tonight
Mainly clear, brutally cold, lows in the middle single digits
Wednesday
Partly sunny, quite breezy, cold, low-to-mid 30’s for afternoon highs
Wednesday Night
Mainly cloudy, cold, upper 20’s for late night lows
Thursday
Mainly sunny, not as harsh, near 40 degrees
Friday
Partly sunny, quite cold, breezy, near 30 degrees
Saturday
Increasing clouds, breezy, bitter cold, chance of snow late in the day or at night, upper teens
Sunday
Mainly cloudy, bitter cold, chance of snow, upper teens
Discussion
The core of the coldest air associated with the current Arctic outbreak moves into the Mid-Atlantic region today and temperatures here will struggle to pass the 20-degree mark (normal high is 41 degrees at PHL). In addition, winds will be quite stiff from a northwesterly direction bringing wind chill values to below-zero from time-to-time. Temperatures later tonight could plunge to the middle single digits - levels not seen often around here – and then they’ll likely reach the middle 30’s by tomorrow afternoon. There will be a temporary modification in temperatures on Thursday and then another Arctic air mass will push in for the upcoming weekend.
By Friday night and Saturday, moisture will start gathering across the south-central states. As this moisture shield then heads to the north and east, it will encounter a very cold air mass having its origins in the Arctic region. As such, frozen precipitation will break out with significant - and potentially crippling - icing possible this weekend across many southern states. As the moisture field pushes farther to the north and east, snow will break out, and significant accumulations are on the table in the region from the Middle Mississippi Valley to the Tennessee Valley to the Mid-Atlantic region...buckle up, the next couple of weeks will feature the worst that winter has to offer.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield Weather