Late-day clouds, mostly sunny in Philadelphia region on Thursday. Here's the forecast.
Grab the sunglasses and extra layers for Thursday. It will be seasonably cool in the mid to upper 40s and mostly sunny.
Late in the day clouds increase ahead of the next storm, which arrives Friday evening and Friday night.
This storm will bring a chance of rain showers to the area with snow showers possible north and west of the city. If temperatures cool fast enough, there could be a brief snow shower in Bucks and Burlington counties. Highs on Friday are in the low 40s.
Following Friday's storm, the coldest air yet arrives in a bitter blast with highs in the low 30s on Saturday and mid to upper 20s on Sunday. The skies will be mostly sunny on both days. The overnight lows this weekend will be in the teens with Monday morning lows between 10-12 degrees in the city.
If you are headed to Washington, D.C., for the Eagles game, bring heavier winter gear. Despite the sunshine, the highs will hover at or below freezing at kickoff with a breeze making it feel like the teens and 20s.
The deep freeze will continue Monday under sunny skies. By Christmas Eve on Tuesday, the temperatures will start climbing back to the low 40s. There is also a chance of rain showers on Tuesday as a clipper system moves past the region. There are still questions about the track with this storm and if enough cold air remains in place there could be some snow showers or a mix north and west of the city.
At this point, it would take a Christmas miracle for a white Christmas. The National Weather Service's official definition of a white Christmas is 1 inch or more snow on the ground Christmas morning. It doesn't even need to snow on Christmas. The last time Philly had a white Christmas was in 2009.
By Christmas Day on Wednesday, the skies will turn partly cloudy with highs in the low 40s and a chance of showers in the evening. Hanukkah begins Wednesday evening with seasonable temperatures near freezing overnight.
For Kwanza on Dec. 26 skies turn mostly cloudy with highs in the low to mid 40s.
7-day forecast
Thursday: High of 47, low of 38, sunny and seasonable
Friday: High of 42, low of 32, p.m. rain/snow shower
Saturday: High of 35, low of 33, mostly sunny
Sunday: High of 28, low of 18, frigid day
Monday: High of 32, low of 12, sunny and cold
Tuesday: High of 40, low of 21, cloudy with a chance of rain
Wednesday: High of 42, low of 30, partly cloudy
