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Frost and freeze warnings in Philly region for Friday morning, but temperatures could reach high 80s next week

It could be a dangerous morning for some of the region's plant life.

Iryna Shmanenko, 30, of Center City, records as the wind blows cherry blossoms on Delaware Avenue by Race Street in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The wind is due to die, but frost is possible Friday.
Iryna Shmanenko, 30, of Center City, records as the wind blows cherry blossoms on Delaware Avenue by Race Street in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The wind is due to die, but frost is possible Friday.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer
    by Anthony R. Wood
    Updated 
    Published 

For a second consecutive morning, parts of the region might be in for a hard freeze Friday, and the National Weather Service has posted frost advisories for both sides of the Delaware River recommending people guard cold-sensitive plants.

Temperatures will be similar, perhaps a few degrees warmer than they were early Thursday, and it won’t feel nearly as cold with the winds — which gusted to 38 mph in Philly, and 63 mph in Atlantic City on Wednesday — fading.

However, the lack of wind could be a dangerous development for some of the region’s plant life, said Jonathan O’Brien, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly.

» READ MORE: Chilly home opener for Phillies with strong winds, wintry temperatures, and not much body heat

If the winds die down around daybreak, as forecast, that would result in widespread frost, even though temperatures are going to remain above freezing in the city and the neighboring South Jersey counties.

The air temperatures are taken about 6 feet above ground, O’Brien points out, and the ground and other surfaces can be colder.

When the winds are blowing hard, the temperatures become more evenly distributed. When winds are calm, the cold can settle.

Plus winds tend to keep the moving air drier, and the dew points — the temperatures at which water vapor condenses and comes out of hiding — are lower.

» READ MORE: Happy Equinox Day, Philly. Spring has a way of energizing humans and the atmosphere.

On Thursday the winds didn’t let up, and the high of 50 degrees was 16 degrees below the normal for the date and not that far from the record low maximum for an April 22 — 45 — set in 1940.

But the March regression is over. Saturday’s lows will be in the mid- and upper-40s, with highs near 70. Rain is due Saturday night but should end Sunday morning with temperatures heading well into the 60s.

And next week is looking almost unbelievable.

“Some of the model guidance is really warm,“ said O’Brien. It is expected to stay dry all week, with highs in the low 80s by Wednesday.

“It’s possible we push the upper 80s by this time next week,” he said.