A very chilly Valentine’s Day and another warmup are in the offing for Philly
Forecasters say the snow would continue until midday. It won't stay around long: temperatures might make a run at a record high on Thursday.
After a sequence of springlike days that even a snow lover could endure, the region is likely to get a period of snow Sunday, followed by a frigid Valentine’s Day that will feature one of the colder afternoons of the season.
The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory from 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday for up to 3 inches of snow, covering all but Upper Bucks and Montgomery Counties.
Some snowflakes were reported in the Philly area just before midnight, but Sarah Johnson, a lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, said it probably would take longer for precipitation to reach the Shore, and that might cut back on amounts down that way.
It appeared the band of heaviest accumulations would set up somewhere near the I-95 corridor in the Philadelphia region, with help from upper-level winds, forecasters said.
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But winter-phobes, fear not; spring isn’t quite over yet, and temperatures might make a run at a record high Thursday.
After the second consecutive day of 60-degree readings, cold air was due to pour into the region in the wake of a cold front that has moved through the area. A weak storm was forecast to develop along the front as temperatures crashed toward freezing early Sunday.
Johnson’s colleague Dean Iovino said that a few factors argued persuasively against snow amounts of over 3 inches, including the fact that it’s been so warm that snow would have trouble sticking in the early going and that snowfall rates might not be impressive.
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And whatever falls might as well not get used to hanging around Philly.
Come Wednesday, readings are heading back to the 50s, said Alan Reppert, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc., and will crest past 65 on Thursday, flirting with a record for the date.
No more snow prospects were in sight, and the government’s Climate Prediction Center sees a strong probability of above-normal temperatures through Feb. 26.
Reppert pointed out that it’s getting late, and the sun’s increasing strength would make it ever harder for snow to stick on paved surfaces.
Thus, Sunday’s snow “looks like it could be a fleeting event,” he said.