1:00 PM | Arctic blast arrives early tomorrow

Discussion

An extremely energetic Arctic front will roar through the region early tomorrow, Friday the 13th, and it is likely to be accompanied by strong, and perhaps damaging, wind gusts of 40-50 mph, a burst of precipitation in the form of rain changing to snow showers, and a dramatic drop in temperatures. The time frame for this strong frontal passage here in Philly is right around the morning rush hour time of between 6 and 9AM. Winds will continue to gust past 40 mph in the afternoon as temperatures hold steady in the 30’s or even continue to drop at a slower pace than in the early morning. This Arctic invasion will be even more of a problem upon its arrival just to our north and west in the higher elevations of central and northeastern PA where a quick coating of snow and a "flash freeze" may cause some serious travel problems. Even farther to the north and west, from western PA to the Ohio Valley and eastern Great Lakes, there will be a few hours of blizzard conditions late tonight during this polar plunge. The cold air will stick around here through the upcoming weekend and there is the possibility of temperatures bottoming out as low as 12 or 13 degrees or so late Sunday night/early Monday. Looking ahead, most of the next 7 days will be cold, but there will be a brief (modest) warm up on Tuesday followed by another blast of cold air for the second half of next week.