Gusts to 50 mph are expected Wednesday in Philly, and a hard freeze is possible next week
The forecast calls for light winds and temperatures in the 50s for the Rocky Run, with no rain.
In keeping with the arrival of the time change, it looks like the winds of seasonal change will be blowing across the region the next several days.
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for gusts to 50 mph across the region from 7 p.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday, perhaps reaching 60 mph at the Shore — this time from the west rather than the beach-eroding east.
Those westerly winds could result in blowout tides on the ocean and low water levels on the Delaware River, said Patrick O’Hara, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly.
As often happens this time of year, the region will be caught in an air sandwich as high pressure, or heavier air to the west, interacts with lower pressure to the east. Heavy air tends to cascade into lighter air.
Winds will intensify as a cold front plows through the region during the night, the weather service says.
Gusty winds may continue into the early morning hours of Saturday with some rain possible Friday night.
However, the forecast is calling for winds to back off for the 30,000 participants in the annual Rocky run, which gets underway at 7 a.m. Saturday — at the Philadelphia Art Museum, of course — and temperatures should be in the mid-50s.
It is expected to be quite mild later in the day. In fact, after a cool Thursday, with highs in the mid-50s that would be close to the normal for the date, readings should reach the 60s Friday through Sunday.
Then another cold front is due Sunday, and early next week, Philadelphia may experience its first official freeze of the season come Tuesday morning.
Should that occur, it would be right on schedule.
On average, the temperature has been reaching freezing at the Philadelphia International Airport on Nov. 11, said O’Hara’s colleague Ray Martin.
However, freezing readings already have been recorded in areas just outside the city, as is usually the case. The airport thermometer is located not far from a swamp and the Delaware River, not to mention airport runways.
In keeping the warming trend of the planets, the first-freeze dates have been coming later in this century.
But through the years that date has varied tremendously, from Oct. 5 in 1961, to Dec. 11, in 1939.