NEXT Weather: Summer is making a visit to the Philly area
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Frost advisories and freeze warnings expired early Monday morning, giving way to rapidly warming temperatures and mostly sunny skies. As high pressure becomes the dominating force in our forecast over the next few days, expect it to feel like spring and approach summer levels as well. By the end of the week, a few areas could very well be closer to 90 degrees than 80 degrees.
The Build Up
High pressure is sinking air – air that usually leads to calm conditions, free of any rain, snow or storms. That's going to rule our weather over the next few days. As important as that is in forecasting sunshine, it's also important to note the position of the high. As it moves slowly to our south, we'll see a more southwest direction to the wind, which will push our temperatures up each day. By Tuesday afternoon, look for most areas to reach the low and middle 70s.
By the way—the Phillies play at home this week, with games tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday. We couldn't ask for more perfect weather for a spring game, as they take on the Marlins here at home.
Meanwhile, Wednesday will bring noticeable heat to the area, with highs approaching the 80s.
The Heat Is On
With the area of high pressure moving to our southeast, and a Canadian low well to our northwest, we'll see a tighter gradient of wind over our area of the country. This will increase the upper and lower level flow of air to come out of the southwest, helping to heat us up toward the middle and end of the week.
Thursday and Friday, look for highs to reach the middle 80s. Although we may see just a few more clouds over the area, mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies will prevail, along with very dry dewpoints. For outdoor activities, this is great, although being breezy, warm and dry may lead to some fire danger by this time, so please be careful around anything flammable. Friday afternoon highs may even get within a few degrees of 90 before the pattern changes.
This weekend: Slightly cooler (although we'll stay above average in the 70s) and wetter, with a few scattered showers both Saturday and Sunday.
Enjoy the summer-like week ahead—and don't forget to wear sunscreen when you're out!