Wednesday Evening Technical Discussion

Synopsis:

A strong low pressure with pass to the east of the area Thursday evening into Friday bringing the chance of snow and rain to eastern areas of the state. After the low moves away, behind this system winds will pick up out of the Northwest for Saturday and into Sunday. Skies will reamin mostly cloudy for the weekend with temperatures near normal to a tad below. The next system will approach the region on Sunday night bringing more rain to the state.

Short Term(Thursday through Friday morning)

For most of day on Thursday, precipitation in the form of mostly showers, will fall on the eastern half of state. Precipitation totals should range between .05 and .20 inches of liquid. Due to warm surface temperatures most of this precipitation will fall in the form of rain. As we approach Thursday evening into Friday morning, another batch of precipitation will move into the area. During the overnight hours Thursday night, a new surface low will deepen rapidly as it passed by the New Jersey coast. This will cause a northerly flow which will allow air to cause snow over the Lehigh Valley region in the Poconos. However, places closer to the east near the Philadelphia metro area will experience a wintry mix of rain and snow. Precipitation should taper by midday Friday with snowfall accumulation of 5 to 10 inches in northeast PA in area such Scranton, Allentown, and Bethlehem. Snowfall totals should decrease substantially further to the south.

 

Mid Term (Friday Morning through Saturday Evening)

As the deepening low pressure passes to the east on Friday, a strong northwest flow will remain throughout the day. Temperatures should range the upper 30's to lower 40's in the northern areas to near 50 in the southern regions of the state. As skies clear late Friday evening, temperatures will fall to upper 20's to lower 30's in most areas. Saturday will be very pleasant with partly sunny skies with temperature rebounding well into the 40's. Winds will remain strong out of the northwest.

 

Long Term (Sunday morning through Monday Evening)

Sunday will be a similar day to Saturday with a few less clouds, especially in the eastern half of the state. Temperatures look to around normal for this time of year. Another system will approach the area from the west on Monday bringing the chance for more rain.

-Matthew Mehallow