Runners, protesters, and Phillies fans are going to feel the chill this weekend in Philly
Temperatures could tumble into the 20s Sunday morning, when the Love Run is set to start.
For just the fifth time this month, the Philly region is about to undergo a change of seasons. Yes, it is still March.
It could be a rough weekend for some blooms, and temperatures for the 15,000 participants in Sunday’s Love Run may be in the upper 20s when the race starts.
And after a fantasy start to the baseball season in June-like warmth Thursday, the Phillies and their fans are about to get a reminder that it’s still March, with temperatures that might kill the mood for a Schwarbomb Sundae.
The forecast for a busy weekend in Philly
Officially, it reached 70 degrees in Philadelphia on Friday, but that was at 1 a.m., and it’s been dropping ever since with a stiff northwest wind. By Saturday morning, temperatures are due to fall below freezing, even at Philadelphia International Airport.
It won’t get much warmer Saturday afternoon, said Nick Guzzo, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, with afternoon readings no higher than the mid-40s — normal for mid-February — during the No Kings protest, due to start at noon.
Winds are forecast to gust 20 to 25 mph from late morning until sunset, with wind chills in the 30s. (To quote poet Emily Dickinson on March: “You must have walked — How out of Breath you are.“)
It will be quite the contrast for the Phillies and their fans. Temperatures soared into the upper 70s Thursday, but on Saturday they will be about 35 degrees lower with those gusts blowing in from left field — advantage, pitchers.
The winds should calm down during the night, said Guzzo, and that would allow any daytime warmth to radiate efficiently into space.
The upshot is that it could be a cold-toes situation for the Love Run participants as temperatures may fall into the upper 20s by the 7:30 a.m. Sunday start.
Gardeners beware. The plants may need some protection.
A fabric covering, such as a “frost cloth,” or an upside-down cardboard box can protect plants against a freeze, said Steve Mostardi, owner of Mostardi Nursery in Newtown Square.
However, “some are more cold-tolerant than others,” he advised. “Geraniums or impatiens ... they’re not cold-tolerant at all, and even if covered, may not survive.”
Conversely, belying the names, pansies are tough. They may look defeated at first in the morning, but chances are they’ll recover nicely during the day, he said.
Said Lisa Roper, horticulturalist at Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, “Any bulbs that have emerged should be fine with the chill. They are tougher than one thinks.”
Those splendid magnolia blooms, however, “are always iffy. Some of the open blooms may get frosted. If they are still in bud, they will probably be protected by the bud scales. Shrubs like forsythia and winter hazel are pretty tough, also.”
» READ MORE: After an actual winter in the Philly region, plant life may see the impacts
Is that all there is?
Chances are that neither the plants, runners, Phillies fans, nor protesters will experience another cold interval of this intensity, based on the climate records at least.
If the last official freeze does occur Sunday at Philadelphia International Airport, it would be right on schedule.
Based on Inquirer analysis, this century, on average, the last freeze has occurred on March 29.