Potent Storm To Bring Drastic Change To Our Region
By Kate Bilo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Today was a little taste of spring across the Delaware Valley and tomorrow will be even more spring-like, in that we'll have temperatures in the 60's and a batch of rain and thunderstorms to contend with. But don't forget, it is really still winter, at least for another 8 days, and the season won't let us forget that too soon.
The mild air hangs around through the overnight hours and into Wednesday, with highs Wednesday reaching the middle 60's in Philadelphia and even towards the 70's across portions of Delaware! But this mild air precedes a strong cold front that will tear across the region during the evening hours, bringing periods of rain and strong, gusty thunderstorms. Damaging wind will be the biggest thunderstorm threat tomorrow, and even ahead of the frontal passage, winds could gust over 40mph.
But the most noticeable impact from this storm will be the brutal blast of cold air that will race in behind the front. Temperatures will drop from the mid-60's tomorrow into the 20's overnight, and wind chill values will drop a staggering 70 degrees from tomorrow afternoon into Thursday morning. Any wet roadways will freeze over rapidly as the colder air arrives, and this will lead to the threat for black ice early Thursday morning. We may even see a little snow overnight into Thursday morning as the storm throws back some moisture into the cold, arctic air.
The good news is that, this being March, the cold won't stick around for too long. After Thursday high stays below freezing, we'll rebound to the mid-40's on Friday and then back to the 50's over the weekend. We are keeping an eye on next week for some potential messy weather as well, so stay tuned and the Eyewitness Weather Team will have you covered.