Icy forecast for Saturday for Philly region, and another storm possible next week
What already has been the snowiest February in six years is getting even snowier.
After layering a two-to-four-inch frosting of snow atop Sunday’s leftovers, a weak storm was heading offshore Thursday morning, but the brisk storm traffic is going to continue well into next week, forecasters say.
In fact, the outlook for Valentine’s Day is a rather heartless one, with some light snow followed by potentially disruptive sleet and freezing rain. In its morning discussion, the National Weather Service said the icing could rise to “warning level.”
A potent coastal winter storm also could affect the region Tuesday; however in what has been a challenging pattern for the computer models, expect multiple changes.
Already, this has been the snowiest February in six years in Philadelphia, with 10.1 inches officially, including the 3.1 measured late Wednesday night into Thursday morning, and 3.5 in Point Breeze, about 5 miles away, one of the higher amounts west of the Delaware River.
The weather service said totals might have been higher around Philly were it not the smaller flake sizes, as opposed to the classic dendrites so favored in holiday decorations.
Near the Shore up to 7 inches was reported, and 4.7 in Pitman, Gloucester County.
Significant snow isn’t a threat on Saturday (for now). The weather service said the region would find itself under a parfait of varying temperatures at different layers of the atmosphere. It will likely stay below freezing at the surface, but warmer upper levels would result in producing sleet and freezing rains.
As for Tuesday, these days forecasting five days’ out is not in the computers’ wheelhouse.
Storms have been riding potent west-to-east jet stream winds that are creating a rush hour in the upper atmosphere, said Paul Walker, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. “You have a fast jet across the country,” he said, and computer models are having a hard time keeping up.
» READ MORE: Philly recorded 4 straight days of snow for just the 4th time ever and forecasters expect more to come
This to say the least has been quite the contrast to last winter. The 19.8 inches that has fallen so far at Philadelphia International Airport this season would be 66 times that of the winter of 2019-20. The average for an entire winter is 22.5.
In the meantime, about the only thing to count on is that the forecasts are going to keep changing. The region is not far from the battleground between Arctic air oozing southward and the warmth that ineluctably is going to push northward.
The days are getting longer, the birds are chirpier, but it looks like it’s going to take a little while.