Snow is in the forecast for the Philly region at the end of the week
The region could see snow during the overnight hours of Thursday into Friday, the result of the first coast-to-coast wintry storm. The West on Sunday was dealing with feet of snow and strong winds.
A major winter storm in California over the weekend could mean the Philadelphia region sees some snow by the end of the week.
It’s the first winter storm so far this season that has the potential to impact both coasts, according to meteorologists at Weather.com. As of Sunday morning, more than 20 inches of snow had accumulated in Northern California and more was still to come.
Weather models indicated on Sunday that as the low pressure system in the West moves east and hits the Rocky Mountains, a new low pressure system could form on the other side, which would in turn spawn another low pressure system in the East, said Cameron Wunderlin, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly.
» READ MORE: December is looking chillier in Philly. Is there a chance of snow before Christmas?
Snow “definitely is possible,” he said, but as far as amounts and exact impacts, “we’re very uncertain.”
Wintry precipitation could arrive in the Philadelphia area during the overnight hours of Thursday into Friday, according to the latest models, Wunderlin said. In Philadelphia specifically, any snow is likely to turn to rain at some point.
On Sunday, residents in the West were dealing with feet of snow and strong winds. Early this week, people living in parts of the Northern Plains, including North and South Dakota, Montana, and Nebraska, could see blizzard conditions, according to Weather.com meteorologists.
Later this week, parts of the Northeast could see some snow, sleet, or freezing rain as early as late Wednesday or Thursday.
» READ MORE: Forecasters cast yet another early vote for a mild winter in Philly
Although the astronomical winter ushered in by the winter solstice doesn’t begin until Dec. 21, meteorological winter runs the entire months of December, January, and February — traditionally the coldest months of the year.
In October, meteorologists predicted that this winter will be generally mild in the Philadelphia region and much of the Mid-Atlantic. Last winter was the 12th-warmest on record in Philadelphia in records dating to the 1870s.
But meteorologists caution that the long-range forecast is subject to all kinds of change.