Breezy, sunny Saturday in Philadelphia region; tracking rain chances next week
Much of the Philadelphia region is under an elevated risk for wildfire spread Saturday, as continued drought conditions and gusty winds provide favorable conditions for fires to spread.
A Red Flag Warning was issued Saturday from 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. for most of the Philadelphia area including all of the Lehigh Valley, all of South Jersey, and the immediate Philadelphia suburbs in Pennsylvania. Low relative humidity and breezy conditions with wind gusts up to 30 mph will produce the risk for fires to easily start and spread quickly through most of the day on Saturday.
Remember that burn bans may be in place in your area – follow all local regulations from fire officials and don't let a careless spark or cigarette butt lead to a blaze that gets out of control due to the amount of dry fuel on the ground.
Otherwise, grab your sunglasses and prepare for another beautiful, sunny, breezy and mild day. Highs will run above average in the low 60s and tonight the lows will dip to the upper 30s under clear skies.
Those clear skies will provide a perfect view of the Beaver Moon, a full moon which is also the last supermoon of 2024. The full moon is also influencing tides, and we could see some coastal flooding at high tide on Saturday.
Conditions won't be quite as breezy on Sunday, but due to the ongoing drought and still somewhat dry conditions a risk for fires to spread will still be possible. Otherwise, Sunday will be quite nice with unseasonably warm conditions once again as temperatures rebound from the upper 30s Sunday morning to the middle 60s Sunday afternoon.
Warmth will continue to build into Monday with high temperatures Monday afternoon approaching 70 degrees. Temperatures will then cool into the low 60s through the middle of next week before the chance for some showers develops ahead of what looks to be a fairly strong system moving in from the west.
Right now, the timing for this next shot at rain will be Wednesday night into the day on Thursday. Along with the showers on Thursday cooler air will funnel into the region with high temperatures Thursday afternoon only reaching in the upper 40s to near 50 degrees.
There could even be some lingering showers on Friday. While this rain will not end our drought, any precipitation we can get is welcome. The storm is the coldest of the season so far and could bring some snow to the Midwest and Ohio Valley, as well as the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The Philly region likely won't get snow, but the upper Poconos could see flurries or a wintry mix.
Behind Thursday's front, our temperatures will tumble to the upper 40s and low 50s for next weekend under mostly sunny skies.
Here's your 7-day forecast:
Saturday: Sunny, breezy. High of 63.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. High of 64, low of 38.
Monday: Mostly sunny. High of 67, low of 43.
Tuesday: Sun and clouds. High of 60, low of 42.
Wednesday: P.M. showers. High of 66, low of 44.
Thursday: Showers. High of 49, low of 45.
Friday: Cooler. High of 59, low of 40.