Warm end to summer 2024 in Philadelphia, followed by a cooler start to fall

It will be a beautiful last day of summer in the area on Saturday with highs in the low 80s. Saturday night will be somewhat cloudy with temperatures dropping into the low 60s.

Later in the night, a local shower will pass by. These clouds and drizzle could continue into early Sunday morning before the sun comes out again and temperatures cool down.

But that’s good, because our area needs a lot of rain. So far this month, our area has only had 0.4 inches of rain, which is much less than average for this time of year.

However, we won’t have any significant rain this weekend.

While the Ohio Valley is currently in an exceptional drought, the Philadelphia area is moving into the abnormally dry and moderate drought phase. So keep a close eye on your plants and lawn, as they may need a little extra water this week and next.

We have a frontal boundary to the west, brought in by warm air ahead of us, giving us warm temperatures today around 80. Behind the boundary however is cooler air as the high pressure builds and brings us a drier air mass.

As we head into Saturday afternoon, the sun will break through and we will have winds from the northeast keeping it cooler along the coast. The front will then move in around 11pm Saturday night and we will see some showers in the area.

Some places could see more than 1.3 cm of rain, but most areas will only see light showers.

Once the front and associated showers move out of the region Sunday afternoon, cooler temperatures will move in and last into early next week. Sunday’s highs will only be in the mid 70s with lows in the low 60s.

This dose of slightly cooler conditions will be perfect, as Sunday marks the first official day of fall — the autumnal equinox is on Sunday at 8:43 a.m. Monday looks to be even cooler, with temperatures struggling to get out of the 60s.

Speaking of fall, some early Fall colors are beginning to appear in the Poconos and northern Pennsylvania.

In the Poconos, color is best in the first half of October, and in the Delaware Valley, color is best in mid to late October.

Right now, the next chance for rain could come from a cold front that could reach the eastern half of the United States during the second half of next week. Also, a possible disturbance in the Gulf could bring some tropical moisture into the region next week.

The NEXT Weather team will keep you informed.

Here’s your 7-day forecast:

Saturday: High 80, Low 63, Partly Cloudy

Sunday: High 76, low 62, early drizzle

Monday: High 73, low 59, cooler, some sun

Tuesday: High 69, low 59, cloudy and cool

Wednesday: High 72, low 62, chance of showers

Thursday: High 74, low 62, showers possible

Friday: High 76, Low 59, Partly Cloudy

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