Kate Bilo: Small Snow System With Large Potential Impacts
by Kate Bilo
Mother Nature has set out to prove to Punxsutawney Phil and his cohorts that winter is not through with us just yet! A system that all week was forecast to develop but remain offshore yesterday began to show it wasn't quite as benign as anticipated. This is a wave of low pressure riding along the same front that came through last night with heavy rain - this time, however, enough cold air will be pushing in from the west to change the rain over to snow.
This is a rather small system with rather large potential impacts. First, we haven't had the lead time on this storm that we had on the last one, when we were able to forecast a major winter storm 6 days in advance. 36 hours is a little different, and if people haven't been paying attention, this one could catch them off guard. Second, even though most of the accumulation will be on grassy and elevated surfaces, snow will be falling during the Friday morning commute. This could snarl traffic and even lead to school delays. If the snow comes down heavily enough in spots, it could coat the roads, so be aware tomorrow morning.
A Winter Weather Advisory will be in effect overnight and continue into early Friday. We expect a general coating to 2" across southeastern PA and northern DE, with 2-4" across much of south Jersey. The snow will depart before noon and then it'll be a much quieter finish to our Friday!