Wet snowflakes falling upon the Philly region, two days after record-high temperatures

This will not evoke images of winter wonderland, but fat, watery snowflakes have been falling in much of the region, and they are likely to share airspace with raindrops for the next several hours.

Some slush has coated the grasses north and west of the city, with 1.6 inches measured in an elevated area of Honey Brook, Chester County.

But, “We’re not expecting any accumulation near the city,” said Amanda Lee, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. In fact, the weather service it’s likely that below about 900 feet the snow would be “white rain.”

Temperatures won’t get below freezing — it was 40 at Philadelphia International Airport at 11 a.m. — and the fact that the precipitation arrived a few hours later than forecast meant that any snow would be falling while the melting March sun was working behind the scenes. That all but ruled out the snow’s sticking on paved surfaces, which already are low-grade hot plates.

This would be an utterly unexceptional event save for the fact that Philadelphia just reached record-high temperatures on back-to-back days. Monday’s high, 77, would have been normal for a May 24.

But in the heart of the can’t-make-up-its-mind season, the atmosphere evidently has decided that spring needs to cool its heels.

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“I don’t think it’s going to be anything on the roads, especially in Philly,” said Trent Davis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.

But as much as 1 to 3 inches could accumulate on unpaved surfaces in elevated areas well north and west of the city, said Paul Walker, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. Temperatures decrease with height, and that can make a big difference in March snowfalls when readings are near freezing.

Readings will be in the 30s Wednesday, then rebound into the 50s Thursday and Friday, before another storm affects the region on the weekend with rain perhaps mixing with wet snow at the end. “It will be one we’ll have to keep on our radar,” said Davis.

The Climate Prediction Center’s outlook through the equinox, which is coming March 20, strongly favors above-normal temperatures for the region. It cited air-pressure patterns over the North Atlantic that typically coincide with mild weather in the Northeast. That was the case in February, when Philadelphia’s average temperature was 3.8 degrees above normal.

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However, February also was characterized by an unusual degree of jumpiness. On five occasions, daytime highs were 20 degrees different from what they were the day before. In records dating to the 1870s, less than 2% had that many 20-degree swings. And Walker says the swing times are likely to continue.

“There still could be some more cold,” he said, “and we’ve seen some decent snow into April.”

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Of note, on March 9, 1976, 6.9 inches of snow fell upon Philadelphia — most of it after the sun had retired — the biggest snowfall since February 1967.

On March 5, 1976, the high was 79.