On a positive note this is going to be a very short lived cold shot. With that being said, Thursday morning is going to feel absolutely lousy in the Philadelphia area! Especially coming off of back to back days in the 60s. We will likely wake up to temperatures in the 20s and wind chills in the teens! Just a quick reminder that it’s still February even though the past couple of days have felt more like April.
A powerful cold front is sweeping across the country today. In some cases we’re seeing 24 hour temperature drops between 50 and 60 degrees behind the front. We’re also seeing a lot of wind and severe weather across the Midwest and the Ohio Valley. As of this writing parts of 28 different states were under Wind Advisories. We’ve had numerous tornado warnings over the past 12 hours as well. By the way, tornadoes are not as uncommon for the month of February as you might think. The United States actually averages 40 tornadoes this month. So it does happen, mostly across the southern states though.
Thankfully, the Delaware Valley will not see the same kind of setup dynamically as what they’re currently dealing with across the Midwest. As a result, a spotty thunderstorm is possible along with gusty synoptic winds. But actual severe weather should be kept down to a minimum, The Storm Prediction Center has our southeastern Pennsylvania suburbs under a “marginal” risk for severe weather. This means only an isolated storm here or there may reach severe criteria (straight-line winds).
Honestly, it’s the timing that’s really going to make this an impactful storm for us. It seems to want to rain today at the most inconvenient times. Times when many of us will be on the roads. It will likely be raining in parts of the viewing area during the morning commute. Another round is likely right around lunchtime followed by one last round during the evening commute. The round that comes in this evening will be the heaviest of the three with a few downpours, strong winds and an isolated thunderstorm. Behind the front tonight, the cold air comes marching in!
