Third snowfall in a week; may turn to rain

The snowfall that begin earlier today may turn into rain later tonight, following several inches of snow that an afternoon forecast from the National Weather Service said would be coming down throughout the region.

It's the third snowfall this week – and winter doesn't officially start until next Saturday.

Philadelphia will see one to three inches of snow, as will the area to the southeast. That snow should continue over the next couple of hours, said Mitchell Gaines, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. With the temperature hitting mid-30s for the highs, Gaines said, precipitation will mix into rain. The region should see between a half to one inch of rain, he said.

To the northwest, in the Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey, snowfall should be heavier, Gaines said. The latest forecast projects between four to eight inches of snow to fall through Sunday morning. There may also be some light icing, he said, with rain also possible.

The bulk of the snow comes in late afternoon through the evening, Gaines said, as a storm system comes in from the south and west. Early afternoon, the center of that system was located over the Ohio valley.

Sunday morning, the weather begins to clear, Gaines said, with temperatures warming to around 40 for the highs.

Two PIAA state football championship finals on Saturday at HersheyPark Stadium - one involving St. Joseph's Prep and the other Imhotep Charter - were pushed back to Sunday.

The city Streets Department said its crews were preparing for a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and rain.

Commissioner David J. Perri said 95 pieces of equipment would be deployed Saturday. Primary and secondary streets will be treated with salt. Some streets were treated with a brine solution Friday.

The forecast for Saturday night is a changeover to rain, which could be freezing depending on temperature shifts.

The last time snow fell three times this early in Philadelphia was 1995.

For snow lovers looking for favorable signs in the early storms, of the nine seasons with three or more early-season snowfalls, six finished way above normal, according to 126 years of government record-keeping.

The average for the nine seasons was 34.9 inches, compared with the overall long-term average of about 22.