Friday Morning Technical Discussion

Friday Morning Technical Discussion

 

Synopsis:

 

      The storm system that brought the showers and rain yesterday will continue to lift north and east today. Behind it we will find mostly cloudy skies and significant cold air advection behind the storm. Without the help of much solar heating, the temperature will fall throughout the day. Things should settle down for the start of the weekend. The biggest story in the next few day will be two relatively weak fronts that will move through. The first one will come in Saturday evening bringing with it some rain or snow showers and the second front will blast through Sunday night, bringing with it wind and a much greater chance of light snow and/or snow showers to much of the state. Temperatures will bottom out on Monday behind the front, but quickly rebound to well above normal values by Tuesday with a strong south to south westerly return flow around a high pressure system situated to our southeast.

 

Short Term:

 

       The storm that brought the rain over the last 36 hours is currently located over the Adirondacks and making its way northeast. The weather we see today will be a result of a rather strong frontal boundary extended south to north from the center of the low. Ahead of the front temperatures have been near 60° in Philadelphia. On the other hand, behind it things are rather chilly though not unseasonably so. Temperatures in the western part of the commonwealth are falling through the low and middle 30's. The temperatures will continue to fall through today with a strong westerly flow through the lower 200 mb of the atmosphere. The wind we experience today will calm down into the overnight. Saturday temperatures will rebound a bit, ahead of the next weak front. The front will move through Saturday night bringing with it rain showers to low elevations and snow showers to higher elevations. Sunday will feature the rapid approach of a more potent frontal boundary. This one will come with strong wind, light snow and snow showers, and a significantly more chilly air mass.

 

Long Term:

 

Sunday night's front will bring but a glancing blow of cold air. With some sun out on Monday, ttemperatureswill like climb into the 30's in the southern two thirds of the state. A significant amount of cloud cover will occur as the cold air rapidly retreats Monday night, giving way to a much warmer day on Tuesday. The pattern on Tuesday almost looks like a summer pattern with a Bermuda type high parked out over the Atlantic. The flow will blast in from the South driving the temperatures into the 50's across much of the commonwealth. Temperatures might even approach 60 if the sun comes out in the warmer parts of the state. With a storm system making its way well to our north, things will stay warm into the middle of next week, though there might again, be a bout of showers and rain.

 by Joshua Glazer