Yes, those were snowflakes you saw Tuesday morning in Philly. Forecasters were surprised, too

The National Weather Service has confirmed that those who saw snowflakes outside their windows on Tuesday morning were not hallucinating.

That really was a snow shower that ambushed the Philly area shortly after 8 a.m., and a rather vigorous one at that, coating cars and unpaved surfaces, with drifts reported up to a whole centimeter.

And it was a surprise even to meteorologists.

Philly recorded its first official “trace” of the season, and 0.3 inch was measured in Chester County.

The triggering mechanism was a strong upper-level system moving through the region, however the snow-shower activity had been expected to occur well to the north of Philly, said Alex Staarmann, meteorologist at the weather service’s Mount Holly office.

Staarmann said the local flakes were tied ‘indirectly” to the lake-effect snows that have portions of northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York under warnings for several inches.

He added that it’s at least possible that flurries or even another snow shower could cross the region during Tuesday afternoon.

The morning snow burst was unexpected. “We weren’t necessarily forecasting that kind of intensity of snow showers that far south,” Staarmann said.

Some heavier showers are possible before day’s end well west of the city, he added.

Around here, the highlight of the next two days will be January-like cold with temperatures in the 30s and wind chills in the teens and 20s. The city’s Office of Homeless Services declared a “Code Blue” emergency on Monday night that likely will remain in effect through at least Wednesday.

However the chill will be short-lived. It will be followed by a warm-up, rain, moderate temperatures, and a continuation of the region’s record snow-deprivation streak. It’s been 668 days since an inch of snow has fallen upon Philly.