Mild Wednesday in Philadelphia before temps drop, rain begins later. See the NEXT Weather forecast.
Wednesday will be cloudy and mild again with highs in the low 60s, possibly even warmer in Delaware. Enjoy it because things will change dramatically come Wednesday evening as a strong storm lifts into the area.
Starting around 9 or 10 p.m., heavy downpours and even a few rumbles of thunder will be likely through the overnight hours and into the early morning on Thursday. At this point total rainfall looks to be in the .5 to 1 inch range, with some areas in our northwest zones getting even more than that. It is expected to be enough for some small ponding in spots but this is largely beneficial rainfall as our area suffers through a severe to extreme drought.
Our meteorologists have put a NEXT Weather Alert in place because of the significant changes in weather expected over the next few days.
Winds will also gust to 30 mph with the system Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Behind this front temperatures plummet to the low 50s on Thursday. With the wind, it will feel no better than the low 40s.
With the upper low still spinning off to the west and moisture wrapping in from the Atlantic Ocean, we will be monitoring another round of showers Thursday evening into early Friday. And as temperatures drop into the 20s and 30s Thursday night, we may even see some snow. Accumulations are looking increasingly likely in the highest elevations of the Poconos, where as much as 1 to 4 inches of snow may fall. Even further south into the Lehigh Valley, we will see the chance for snow showers or flurries late Thursday into early Friday.
Showers are possible during the day Friday in Philly and we may even see snowflakes flying. No accumulation is expected as the surface temps will be above freezing but these will be the first flakes of the season. Get your winter gear out — it will be very cold with the wind.
Your NEXT Weather team will be monitoring this system very closely, and we will provide updates with all new information to keep you prepared and protected.
You may be wondering about snow in the Delaware Valley. While it's still a bit early for that (generally speaking), we do start looking at snow forecasts this time of the year. Read more about it here on our NEXT Weather story.
Here's your 7-day forecast:
Wednesday: Rain at night. High of 63, low of 48.
Thursday: A.m. showers, windy. High of 50, low of 44.
Friday: Windy, showers. High of 43, low of 37.
Saturday: Some sun, breezy. High of 54, low of 42.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. High of 55, low of 43.
Monday: Partly cloudy. High of 59, low of 36.
Tuesday: Sun and clouds. High of 63, low of 47.
