Bolaris: Fifty Shades of White
Snow squalls and wind gusts may put a chill on Valentine's Day romance.
Despite the amount of love in the air, Valentine's Day weekend has been shaping up to be frigid.
A brutally cold air mass has charged this way from the frozen tundras of the great Northwest and is expected to bring record-breaking low temperatures. We're talking a morning low of zero by 6 a.m. Sunday. And that's not factoring in the wind chill, which could make it feel like it's up to 30 below zero. The last time Philadelphia saw the thermometer drop to 2 degrees on Feb. 15 was all the way back in the winter of 1888.
The combination of a few things concerns me. First, the front arrived on Valentine's night, which complicated super date nights. Lovers (and perhaps soon-to-be lovers) were in full travel mode on the way to romantic restaurants. But if you're still planning to see "Fifty Shades of Grey," you may have to reschedule. With snow squalls in the region, you may have to settle for "Fifty Shades of White."
Snow squalls moved in during the first half of the evening. The brunt of the snow will fall between 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m Sunday. Travelers on Saturday night should beware of a line of snow showers and snow squalls that could dump quickly over 2 inches of snow, reducing visibility to zero.
At the same time, winds will dramatically increase, gusting up to 60 mph by late Saturday night through Sunday morning. The combination of the wind and intense snow squalls will drop visibilities to white-out conditions at times.
How much snow can we expect? Due to the random nature of the snow showers and more intense squalls, we should see between 1 and 3 inches across the region. Attached is a map from weathersavior.com to show possible snow amounts that I'm forecasting in your area.
A word of caution: Conditions could deteriorate very rapidly in a short period of time. The wind gusts may complicate things, snapping tree limbs and power lines that could lead to power outages.
Yes, it's the return of that bad boy "POLAR VORTEX."
When might things get better? It's not looking good. I don't see any relief until at least March 1, and it could remain volatile and very cold through the middle of next month.
Winter is far from over.
Happy Valentine's weekend! Be safe, stay warm.