The weather on Wednesday will be cloudy and mild with highs in the low 60s, possibly even warmer in Delaware. Enjoy, because things will change dramatically on Wednesday evening as a strong storm moves through the area.
From about 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM, heavy rain showers and even some thunderstorms are likely to occur overnight and into the early morning on Thursday. At this point, total rainfall looks to be between 0.5 and 1 inch, with some areas in our northwest zones receiving even more than that. This is expected to be enough to cause minor ponding here and there, but this is largely a useful rainfall as our area is experiencing severe to extreme drought.
Our meteorologists have issued a NEXT Weather Alert due to significant weather changes expected in the coming days.
CBS News Philadelphia
Winds will also gust up to 20 mph with the system Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Behind this front, temperatures will drop into the low 50s on Thursday. With the wind it won’t feel any better than the low 40s.
While the upper low continues to turn west and moisture moves in from the Atlantic Ocean, we will see another round of showers Thursday evening into early Friday. And if temperatures drop into the 20s and 30s Thursday night, we could even see some snow. Accumulations look increasingly likely at the highest elevations of the Poconos, where as much as 1 to 10 inches of snow could fall. Even further south, into the Lehigh Valley, we will see a chance of snow showers or flurries late Thursday through early Friday.
CBS News Philadelphia
There could be showers in Philly during the day on Friday and we might even see snowflakes flying around. No accumulation is expected as surface temperatures will be above freezing, but these will be the first flakes of the season. Get out your winter gear; it will be very cold with the wind.
Your NEXT Weather team will be closely monitoring this system and we will provide updates with any new information to keep you prepared and protected.
You may be wondering about snow in the Delaware Valley. Although it is still a bit early for that (generally speaking), we are starting to look at the snow forecasts this time of year. Read more about it here in our NEXT Weather Story.
Here’s your seven-day forecast:
CBS News Philadelphia
Wednesday: Rain at night. Highest of 63, lowest of 48.
Thursday: It’s raining, windy. Highest of 50, lowest of 44.
Friday: Windy, showers. Highest of 43, lowest of 37.
Saturday: A little sun, windy. Highest of 54, lowest of 42.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highest of 55, lowest of 43.
Monday: Partly cloudy. Highest of 59, lowest of 36.
Tuesday: Sun and clouds. Highest of 63, lowest of 47.
NEXT Weather radars
Hourly forecast
