Philly has first official snowfall — a whole 10th of an inch
Pre-dawn snow made roadways and rails wet, but caused no serious problems.
Schools were open and the trains were running, but the city did receive its first official snowfall of the season with 0.1 inches measured at Philadelphia International Airport on Wednesday morning.
While that was 3.6 inches shy of the record for the date, set on Dec. 11, 1960, at the front end of a surprise 1960 snowstorm, it did ensure that the winter of 2019-20 won’t finish last for snow in Philadelphia.
That distinction is held by the winter of 1972-73, when the official total was a “trace.”
No snow is the forecast or computers’ imaginations for the next several days.
Temperatures will get no higher than the mid-30s on Thursday, then head well into the 40s on Friday.
Unfortunately, Saturday is looking perfectly miserable and rainy for the annual Army-Navy Game.
» READ MORE: President Donald Trump to come to Philadelphia Saturday for the Army-Navy game
Wednesday’s snow started falling in the predawn hours and made roadways and rails wet, but caused no serious problems.
The snow, which came in the wake of rain and a cold front that moved west to east through the region, stuck to cars and grass, with light accumulations of an inch or so in some places.
The weather service said it had its first measurable snow of the season at its Mount Holly office: two-tenths of an inch at 6 a.m. (a total that ultimately grew to three-tenths).
The snow was history by midmorning.
The biggest impact of the overnight rain and snowfall appears to be that wet rails slowed SEPTA and PATCO commuter trains, making them run a few minutes late.
The walkway on the Ben Franklin Bridge also was closed.
The number of canceled or delayed flights at Philadelphia International Airport appeared to be within a normal range.
Next week, a storm could affect the area late Monday into Tuesday, but it’s way too early to make a serious guess at precipitation type.
That said, the National Weather Service said in its late-day discussion it might have flooding potential.