Arctic air continues in Philadelphia area as bomb cyclone approaches coast. Here's the forecast.
We haven't been above freezing since 7 p.m. Jan. 24, and this weekend marks days eight and nine of the cold stretch.
It will be the longest subfreezing stretch since 2004 when we had 9 days and once we get to Sunday (9 days), it will officially be the longest consecutive stretch since 1979 — nearly 50 years.
Needless to say, temps this cold for this long don't happen too often here in the Philly area.
NEXT big weather change: monitoring the bomb cyclone
In addition, we are watching a major coastal storm this weekend. The good news, as we continue to dig out from this past weekend's storm, is that the forecast model tracks continue to push the storm a bit farther east, taking the big snow potential with it.
As of now, the most likely scenario is that the storm will keep most accumulating snow potential south of us and track far enough out to sea that we'll just see maybe a light coating of snow along the immediate coast but nothing expected inland.
Regardless of the storm's track, it is expected to become what's known as a "bomb cyclone" - a term given to a non-tropical cyclone that undergoes a process known as bombogenesis, which is defined as a rapid decrease in pressure over a short period of time. In our region, the generally accepted definition is a loss of 24 millibars of pressure over 24 hours.
When a storm loses pressure, it's an indication of strengthening - so bombogenesis at it's core means rapid strengthening or intensification.
Because of the very strong low off the coast, we also have to mention other impacts - we can expect wind gusts up to 50mph along the coast and the threat for coastal flooding thanks to the ocean water being pushed toward the coastline. Even in the city, winds could gust to 30mph Sunday, meaning the brutal wind chills will continue through the weekend.
The best advice is to stay with the NEXT Weather team for frequent updates each day to plan and prepare for the weekend.
Side note: if you're wondering if there is a big warmup in the extended forecast, the answer is no.
The longest forecast model goes out to Valentine's day weekend and isn't showing any considerable warming at this point. Hopefully it changes and we can get some melting help from mother nature.
Here's your 7-day forecast:
Saturday: NEXT Weather Alert for Arctic cold. High 25, Low 5
Sunday: NEXT Weather Alert cold and blustery. High 27, Low 14
Monday: NEXT Weather Alert freezing. High 31, Low 16
Tuesday: Not as cold. High 34, Low 18
Wednesday: Snow shower. High 33, Low 20
Thursday: Chilly. High 33, Low 23
Friday: Cold start. High 34, Low 18