PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Saturday begins our streak of stormy days as the first of likely three winter storms prepares to haunt the Delaware Valley. An annoying winter mix will follow north all morning, probably overtaking Philly and much of the urban corridor around noon
The initial rainfall in Philly and much of the immediate suburbs is snow, sleet and probably some freezing rain as well. As the messy mix moves into Philly we will begin to see a transition to more regular coastal rainfall as areas of light snow may develop over the counties’ northern tier.
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The mix in Philly and across the I-95 corridor will last for the rest of the afternoon and evening before lightening up a bit at night.
Warm air will continue to enter in the north and also throughout the afternoon, and we will likely transition from snow / sleet to more freezing rain / drizzle in the urban corridor during this time.
A switch from winter mix to regular rain is possible on the Shore, while northern areas will remain with light, sleet snow.
The greatest risk of icing will occur on Saturday evening and night, possibly also on Sunday morning. The reason for the high risk of freezing rain is that surface temperatures will remain below freezing on Saturday, while temperatures above the low / medium levels of the atmosphere will rise above freezing.
The highlights on Saturday will be almost 30 degrees.
The threat of a winter mix, including freezing rain, will persist on Sunday morning. Most of the rainfall will end in the morning hours on Sunday, but in the afternoon there are still some light and persistent areas of mixed or pure rain. Sunday’s highlights will spread to the mid-1930s.
When our weekend system is all said and done, we aim to have icing up to one-tenth of an inch of icing in a vast majority of the region.
However, there is a chance of a ribbon of higher ice buildup in the interior of South Jersey where ice up to 0.25 inches could be possible.
At this point we are not calling for a widespread ice storm, but power outages and very difficult travel are possible from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning.
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Snow amounts will be extremely light with this system. If anything sticks, it would only be about 1 inch maximum coating for places.
Monday offers a little respite from the winter weather for at least a few hours as we wait for storm number two to appear. Monday as a whole will be mostly cloudy with possible periods of winter mix during the day.
Those who see a wintry Monday will notice that it should be light and fast. The better chance of a more robust winter mix comes Monday night. At the moment our Monday night-Tuesday storm is a bit warmer.
What this means to us is a better chance of seeing rain, sleet and sleet, with a smaller chance of seeing snow, especially in Philly.
The second round of winter weather ends on Tuesday evening, leaving a chance to clean up properly on Tuesday evening and Wednesday.
Definitely my new favorite image! The winter weapons of choice for this storm are the melting of the ice and the push broom. Slushy sleet / sleet is possible in the beginning with a change in sleet / drizzle all ending early on Sunday morning @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/wynu8jF22a
– Matt Peterson (@MPetersonWx) February 13, 2021
This will allow Arctic high pressure to take control at least for a short while on Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday appears to be mostly sunny, but very cold with only highs in the low 30s.
The sunny skies are short-lived as the week’s storm number hits Thursday. Thursday’s storm at this point looks like it should start as snow / mix for most of the region, before transitioning to mix / rain and then all rain for most.
As the system progresses on Friday, a transition to snow or rain / snow will be possible. An early look at next weekend’s shows we can finally have a few quiet days after the rocky road on the way.
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