After the storm, Philly is getting its biggest chill since January
It hasn't been this chilly around year since a cold spell that ended Jan. 22.
In the wake of a storm whose performance wasn’t quite as ferocious as advertised in the immediate Philly area, the region is about to experience its coldest run of days since January, with temperatures Thursday about 30 degrees colder than Wednesday’s.
In addition, winds gusting to 30 mph or better on Thursday are forecast to drive wind chills into the 20s, and the temperatures aren’t expected to get out of the 30s until Sunday. (Great timing for sellers of outerwear and sweaters.)
While the gusts from Wednesday evening — 44 mph in Oxford, Chester County, and 49 in Cape May — were more impressive than those expected on Thursday, fortunately, power outages were scattered and the National Weather Service carried no reports of significant damages.
Amounts of close to two inches or rain were measured in areas of Bucks and Chester Counties, but only about an inch was recorded at Philadelphia International Airport.
For the most part, the rains proved to be just more drops in the drought bucket. “Overall, this is a beneficial rain,” said John Feerick, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.
Granted, having nightfall around 3 p.m. along with rush-hour rains and gusts isn’t everyone’s idea of a pleasant afternoon, but the region unquestionably escaped the worst on Wednesday.
What kept conditions from being worse in the Philly area?
The Atlantic Ocean evidently got some hellacious downpours, and so did the Poconos, meteorologists said.
As it turned out however, areas in and around the city were in the middle of the uprights as the heaviest rains passed to the west and east, said Feerick. The Poconos got close to 2 inches.
To the east, “An axis of heavy rain set up offshore,” said Joe DeSilva, meteorologist at the weather service office in Mount Holly.
These are the kinds of details that the computer models that meteorologists like to blame, er, consult are unlikely to pick up in the chaotic environment of the atmosphere.
Feerick said models on Tuesday were showing some hints of the rain pattern, but, “Really, the resolution leaves a little bit to be desired.”
What is the status of the drought in Philadelphia?
The rain helps, but expect the interagency U.S. Drought Monitor map to keep the region in “severe” to “extreme” drought when it is updated Thursday. Those maps are developed on Tuesdays.
Through Tuesday, Philadelphia’s 90-day deficit was nearly 8 inches, or more than 70% below normal, according to NOAA’s Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center.
On the plus said, the headwaters of the Delaware River not only received generous rain, but snowmelt is likely to increase the river flow and further depress the salt line, the boundary between fresh and seawater that could endanger drinking water supplies, Feerick said.
As of Monday the boundary was near Chester, 3.2 miles south of where it was Dec. 2, according to the Delaware River Basin Commission.
Is any snow in the Philly outlook?
No.
This is the time of the year when computer models tend to fantasize about two-foot snowstorms 10 days and two weeks away. But they currently are on break from fiction, with not a threat in sight.
After the cold spell eases Sunday, expect a warm-up, with more rain. possible early in the workweek.
For what it’s worth NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center’s extended forecast for the Dec. 19 to Dec. 25 period sees near normal temperatures and precipitation.