WEATHER BLOG: Snowy Start to February
By Justin Drabick
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Winter Storm Warnings are in effect for Philadelphia and surrounding PA, NJ & DE suburbs Monday 6 a.m. - 7 p.m. Winter Weather Advisories are in effect for the far NW suburbs, Lehigh Valley and Poconos those same times.
TIMING: Expect rain to begin from about 1-3 a.m. Monday morning, then changeover to snow by around 6 a.m. Snow will continue through the morning and come to an end by mid-afternoon. Extreme southern NJ, the NJ Shore and central DE will hold onto the rain longer. The morning commute would be impacted with improving conditions for the evening commute.
AMOUNTS: 3-6" of snow is expected for northern Delaware, Philadelphia, surrounding NJ suburbs on northward through the Poconos. It is possible some areas across northern Chester, Bucks, Montgomery counties could see 7 or 8" of snow. Central Delaware and far southern NJ may see 1-3" with around 1" near the NJ Shore. Exact amounts could change due to the exact storm track and temperatures. A change in track by a few miles could make a big difference on what and how much an area sees. Temperatures will be in the lower 30s Monday morning so this will be a heavier wet snow, compared to the lighter, fluffy, dry snow we had in the past several weeks.
Another storm will approach from the southwest late Tuesday night that could bring a mixture of snow, ice and rain initially, especially north and west of Philadelphia, before changing to all rain on Wednesday as temperatures rise into the 40s.
A third storm may impact us sometime next weekend. As of now, the storm is looking more similar to Wednesday's storm, starting as a snow, ice and rain then changing to rain as temperatures warm. This storm is several days away to changes in the timing and precipitation types will change.
Justin Drabick