Strong storms, much-needed rain — and unwanted winds — due in Philly Sunday
Gusts — remember those? — could reach 50 mph Sunday night. Rains may ease drought conditions at a crucial time.
Perhaps March was concerned about losing its reputation, but whatever the motive, the strong wind gusts that have characterized the first quarter of 2025 are due to return to the Philly region on Sunday.
Wind gusts in the afternoon could reach 40 mph, and gusts to 50 or better are not out of the question after sunset with the approach of a potent front that has resulted in at least 45 tornado reports in the Midwest and South, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center.
Around here, downpours are possible — and the region still very much needs rain, especially now — along with thunderstorm winds, said Dan Pydynowski, a lead forecaster with AccuWeather Inc.
Regardless, said Mike Gorse, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, “it’s going to be windy, with or without storms.”
This has been a particularly windy period in the Philly region
On average, for sustained winds March is the windiest month of the year, and this one has been having a howling good time.
While the winds have been on a sort of spring break the last week, gusts of 40 mph or higher have been recorded at Philadelphia International Airport on five days so far, the most of any March through mid-month in at least the last five years. Since Jan. 1, gusts of 35 mph or higher have been measured on 24 days, and 40 mph more on 16, also the most since at least 2020.
Fortunately, the region has been spared widespread power outages, and that is likely related to the fact that trees are not leafed out, and thus winds can sail right through them.
But the winds also have exacerbated the stubborn dryness, said Dave Dombek, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.
With the winds, the longer days, and the growing power of the sun, he said, “Your evaporation rates go up exponentially.”
The soil in the Philly region is about as dry as it gets this time of year
According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, soil moisture is about as depleted as it gets around here this time of year — in the 95th to 100th percentile for dryness throughout the region.
Rain has been wanting. In the last 60 days, precipitation deficits are running at 35% in Philly and the neighboring Pennsylvania counties, and 30% in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties, based on data compiled by the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center, which uses a sampling of stations.
Drought advisories remain in effect across the region. The heavy rains of March 5, the most in Philly on any calendar day in eight months, did almost nothing to move the needle in the latest weekly drought map, posted Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor, an academic-government partnership.
This is a critical period for rainfall, given that the foliage is working up a mighty thirst. Some early spring flowers, including daffodils, are blooming, and the trees are bursting with buds, their presence evident in the sunset light.
When are the winds and rains likely to arrive in Philly on Sunday?
It’s likely to be windy when you wake up, with breezes from the south ahead of the front. The gusts should intensify in midafternoon, Pydynowski said.
Any thunderstorms likely would hold off until the evening, he said, and they are not a done deal. The air at night tends to be less volatile than during the day, when the atmosphere gets a charge from the sun.
The rains may “come in waves,” he said, and a widespread half inch to inch is likely, with more to the east.
Looking ahead, the climate center sees the chances favoring above-normal rainfall in the March 23 to 29 period.
It mentioned nothing about wind, but March is only half over.