Bolaris: First snow, then ice

February ended as the 5th coldest February of all-time and the coldest one since 1979.  Good-bye February, but say hello to March as it comes in with a bit of a roar.

The snow that spread into most of the region by noon has given way to rain and ice. The big concern for this evening is not so much the snowfall of 1-3 inches, but rather the ice.

Temperatures were hard pressed to reach the freezing mark today. Milder air aloft in the atmosphere caused the snow to change to sleet and then freezing rain.  Because the temperatures hovered around freezing, we saw an extended period of freezing rain for Philadelphia and along the I95 corridor.

Most of the region accumulated about 1/4 inch of ice on top the snow. That makes for dangerous travel conditions on all untreated surfaces, especially bridges, overpasses, secondary roads and sidewalks.  It's not out of the question that there could be a few random power outages if ice builds-up on power lines.

But this will be a quick moving system.  Any frozen precipitation will end by midnight.  In the city, across Southern New Jersey, and Delaware it could end as some just plain drizzle.

The good news is that your back-to-the-grind Monday should be dry. Temperatures will climb towards 40 degrees, meaning any of this slop will melt quickly.

The next storm is tap for: Later Tuesday into Wednesday.  It could start briefly as a mix before changing to all rain and the rain could be a soaker, perhaps leading to some flooding concerns.  Stay tuned ...

See the attached maps by weathersavior.com for snow amounts in your region.