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After soaking rains in Philly and a brief return to winter, expect a warm spring, forecasters say

After a weekend chill, a warmup is due, and forecasts call for above-normal temperatures for the next three months.

Car lights reflect off rain covered S. Broad St. at Chestnut Street on a rainy afternoon in Center City. The rains doused a remarkable dry spell.
Car lights reflect off rain covered S. Broad St. at Chestnut Street on a rainy afternoon in Center City. The rains doused a remarkable dry spell.Read moreALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer
    by Anthony R. Wood
    Updated 
    Published 

Soaking rains on Thursday emphatically ended one of Philadelphia’s more remarkable dry spells in the period of record.

About two-thirds of an inch had fallen at Philadelphia International Airport by day’s end, and the rains are due to continue off and on into Friday morning, when they might share air space with some wet snowflakes.

The eve of the vernal equinox will feature weather more appropriate to the eve of the winter solstice with temperatures in the 30s in the morning, and wind chills in the 20s, with winds gusting to 30 mph, the National Weather Service says.

At the moment of the equinox, 5:37 a.m. EDT Saturday, heralding the arrival of the astronomical spring, temperatures are expected to be in the upper 20s.

» READ MORE: A rare March dry spell in Philly — good for roads, not for the woods — is ending

But a warm-up is scheduled to begin Sunday, with highs in the 50s, and into the 60s by midweek.

And it won’t be long before folks can dine outside without hugging a patio heater, according to the government’s Climate Prediction Center.

The center’s April-through-June outlook issued Thursday contains barely a rumor of cold.

“Warmer-than-normal conditions are favored for nearly the entire United States,” Jon Gottschalck, chief of the predictions branch, said at a news briefing.

» READ MORE: As we spring forward and push back the nights, experts worry about worsening our ‘social jet lag’

The center’s shorter-range outlook, through the rest of the month, strongly favors above-normal temperatures in the Philadelphia region and the rest of the Northeast, with a high-confidence forecast.

It also calls for above-normal precipitation for the rest of the month, which would be quite a turnabout.

The 0.14 inches of rain that fell March 1 was followed by 16 consecutive days without measurable precipitation officially in Philadelphia, the fourth-longest March stretch in records dating to 1874.