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'Hurricane' Schwartz: Bad here, worse up north

Camden River Line riders head into the cold after arriving at the Broadway station Friday morning. Temperatures in the region reached only into the mid-20s Friday.
Camden River Line riders head into the cold after arriving at the Broadway station Friday morning. Temperatures in the region reached only into the mid-20s Friday.Read moreED HILLE / Staff Photographer
    by Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz, Chief Meteorologist, NBC10 Philadelphia
    Published 

IF YOU THINK IT'S COLD NOW……

The temperature only reached 26 degrees this afternoon, which is 17 degrees below "normal". And that's just the appetizer. The main course comes over the weekend, when we will add even colder air AND much stronger winds. The combination will push wind chill readings down to levels rarely seen around here in the past 30+ years.

The lowest temperatures and wind chills are expected Saturday night into early Sunday. Predictions for Sunday morning lows and wind chills:

Temp                    Wind Chill

PHILA.                                    2                           -17

ALLENTOWN                         -1                          -20

READING                               0                           -20

ATLANTIC CITY                     5                           -15

WILMINGTON                       1                           -18

TRENTON                              0                           -18

MT. POCONO                        -9                          -32

As cold as this is, it will be even worse in New England. Look at the low temperatures (not wind chills!). Temperatures as low as -20 and wind chills of -45 in upstate New York. Ouch!!!

THEN COMES THE SNOW

There may be some snow showers early Saturday, thanks to the Great Lakes. Strong winds will push arctic air over the warm, unfrozen waters, which lead to Lake-effect snows. When winds are real strong, some of those snow showers can make it all the way to this area. Sometimes they line up in "streets", where one place can get heavy snow, while no snow falls only a few miles away.

But more widespread snow will be moving into the area Monday. It's hard to imagine that it would turn to rain a mere 36 hours after we have near zero degree temperatures. But it will. A storm moving up from the Deep South will bring a lot of moisture here, but also a lot of warm air. That means the storm will change to rain across the entire area.

The first map is for Monday at 7pm, and the 2nd one for Tuesday at 7am. The differences in just 12 hours are incredible:

The blue colors are snow-the darker the blue the heavier the snow. So, the storm starts as snow across most of our area Monday, especially in the afternoon. It could be all rain right at the shore. The pink area is sleet, which is possible for a short period Monday night before the change to rain.

The second map shows that the snow has lifted WAAAY north (into New York State!) and west (west of Harrisburg). Most computer models agree with this: it will be raining everywhere in our area for the Tuesday AM rush. That yellow zone is heavy rain. It could be a really wet rush hour.