Potent Storm To Bring Huge Temperature Swing
By Katie Fehlinger
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A rude winter awakening looms on the horizon, so enjoy the warmth while you can! Tuesday is providing a well-deserved forecast of quiet weather, some sun and mild temperatures in the low 60's (our normal high is 51.) Wednesday will still warm up into the 60's. However, it also marks the arrival of a large and rapidly intensifying storm.
Our north most counties could see a little rain as early as Wednesday morning. But most of the Delaware Valley won't need an umbrella until the afternoon. Around the time school lets out, some rain will be falling in most spots, but by late evening the leading edge of a very strong cold front will rumble through with some locally gusty thunderstorms.
WATCH: Kate's Tuesday Evening Forecast
In the wake of this front, the thermometer quickly takes a HUGE dive. Temperatures are easily into the 20's overnight Wednesday into early Thursday morning and we just barely hit the freezing mark through the rest of the day (which feels far colder when you factor in the wind). So, as the storm pulls away, any damp roads or sidewalks could freeze up for a potentially icy commute. In addition, the northern half of our area will likely see some light snow on the back side of the storm - not much accumulation (if any at all), but enough to cause slick travel.
Thankfully, this storm won't put us back into a prolonged cold spell. We're already rebounding from the worst of the chill by Friday, and we'll continue to warm up into Sunday.
**St. Patrick's Day Parade Forecast: Right now I expect a dry Sunday with some sunshine, but it will likely be a little chilly for the standards (think upper 40's at best). Regardless, I'll be rocking out with some of my colleagues on the CBS3 float. Hope you can swing down to the Ben Franklin Parkway and join the party!
Katie