Snow falls in the Philly region, after 2 days of record warmth
As much as a whole 0.8 inches was reported
On an altogether unpleasant Thursday, wet snow that behaved more like soggy white rain fell upon parts of the region during the afternoon.
No injuries, school closings, or supermarket runs were reported, and the flake sightings would have been unremarkable, were it not for the fact that the temperature had hit a record 83 degrees in Philly the previous two days.
With winds gusting to near 45 mph Thursday morning, in the space of 12 hours, the term “wind chill” had replaced “heat index” in the official hourly observations at Philadelphia International Airport.
Temperatures tumbled into the 30s during the afternoon from west to east in the wake of a cold front that has since crossed New Jersey.
The front had set off thunderstorms and wind gusts that ripped down wires and took down trees in parts of South Jersey on Wednesday night.
By midafternoon, wet snow was falling west of Philly, with a mix of rain and snow in the city.
“Some slushy snow accumulations” did occur on grasses. As much as 0.8 inches was measured in Washington Township, Gloucester County, and in southwestern Chester County. Philly and he other airports were shut out.
“It’s not going to amount to much,” Sarah Johnson, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, had said presciently.
On the plus side, whatever fell from the skies should make some contribution to easing the drought conditions around the region. And it looks as if there might be more where that comes from.
In its updated analysis posted Thursday, the interagency U.S. Drought Monitor had almost the entire region under “severe drought.” New Jersey remains under a statewide drought emergency, which was declared in December.
Philadelphia, its neighboring counties, and northern Delaware have been running substantial precipitation deficits so far this year, according to data from the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center.
Significant rain is expected Sunday night and Monday, followed by another cold shot. High temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday might not get above 40 degrees after overnight lows below freezing.
“It’s going to be pretty similar to the broader pattern that we just experienced,” Johnson said — except down a few octaves. Highs during the weekend are expected in the more seasonable 50s, rather than the 80s.
The Climate Prediction Center’s outlook for the period from Tuesday through March 21, the day after the equinox, favors below-normal temperatures for the entire East.
And given that winter evidently is intent on giving ground only grudgingly to the advancing spring, expect more abnormal behavior from the atmosphere. ’Tis the seasons.