Gusty winds to persist, with more snow possible this weekend in Philly

Bicyclists, runners, those who work outside, and just about anyone who would prefer the outdoors without getting a faceful of January probably are about ready for the persistent winds — which at times have evoked ocean roars — to back off.

But after gusts that approached 50 mph at the Shore and 45 on the mainland Tuesday, it looks like they will have to wait. Questions remain about the weekend snow prospects, but more winds are all but a certainty for the next few days and beyond.

Gusts on Tuesday were especially problematic in areas that had received significant snow on Monday, with winds stirring clouds of white powder, some of which blew back on treated roads.

The flights of the dry flakes weren’t inhibited by water weight, said Kevin Brinson, the state climatologist in Delaware, where as much as a foot had accumulated.

Forecasts are calling for gusts to 30 and 35 mph on Wednesday in the Philly region, and possibly higher on Thursday, and the reign of winds that began at the end of last month is due to continue.

“It looks like it’s going to continue through mid-month,” said Eric Hoeflich, the marine specialist at the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, “maybe the end of the month.”

They will relax at times, including Friday in advance of a storm that may produce another round of snow that again could favor areas south of Philadelphia.

Thank you for not asking. That was the message Tuesday from the weather service office in Mount Holly, which took to social media to say, “We do NOT know how much snow we’ll be getting yet.”

An earlier Facebook post contained an image, later removed, that suggested the possibilities ranged from 0 to 40 inches.

Said the post’s creator, Alex Staarmann: “We’ve been getting a lot of questions.”

Computer models have been all over the place, and while Staarmann acknowledged that none has guessed 40 inches, the main U.S. model on Monday was seeing prodigious amounts for Philly.

It has since backed off, and on Tuesday the model was calling for amounts in Philly similar to Monday, when 1.8 inches was recorded at the airport. The European model wasn’t seeing even that much, said Bob Larson, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc., but the chances that probabilities would change in subsequent model runs approach 100%.

Hoeflich said the weather service, which is listing a 50% chance of snow starting in the early morning hours of Saturday, likely would take a first crack at an accumulation estimate Wednesday afternoon.

Regardless, Hoeflich said, the weather pattern will remain active with more snow opportunities likely — and more wind almost certainly.

Winds largely are the products of differences in atmospheric pressure, or weight of the air. The heavier air of high pressure moves aggressively toward the lighter air of the lower pressure of storms. The confrontations have been frequent lately.

The atmosphere has been hyperactive in the East the last several weeks. Recall that at the end of October, Philadelphia broke a 150-year record for consecutive dry days, and the region remains under drought advisories.

“Everything was just missing us,” said Brinson, a University of Delaware professor.

That changed radically in November. Since then, a sequence of fronts has pushed through the region, and areas of unusually high pressure to the north and west have been interacting with storms to spin gusty winds.

“It’s a very dynamic weather pattern,” Larson said.

Gusts at Philadelphia International Airport have exceeded 20 mph for 10 consecutive days, according to the weather service.

“That streak will continue Wednesday and Thursday,” Larson said.

While that may seem cruel and unusual, the November-to-January period is the peak season for gale-force gusts — 39 mph — the weather service’s Hoeflich said.

For now, and probably for at least the next two days, it is unclear whether the winds will have more snow to blow around this weekend.