Temps in Philadelphia might rise above freezing for first time in 5 days on Friday. Here's the forecast.
Friday morning will still be cold in the mid and upper teens in the Philadelphia region, but by the afternoon, we may rise above freezing for the first time since Sunday afternoon.
That means we spent roughly five full days below freezing, making for nine of 23 days with a high temp at or below freezing this January — the most to date since January 2011. In addition, our average high temperature so far has only been 34.7 degrees, nearly 7 degrees BELOW normal and the coldest for the time period since 1994.
Saturday will be similar with lows in the teens and highs in the mid-low 30s, but it will be a beautiful day with tons of sunshine.
On Sunday, we begin our thaw and warm-up. Southwest winds will push us to the low 40s for the first time since last Saturday and only the seventh time this month. That seasonable pattern in the low to mid-40s will continue next week as we end January much warmer than it began.
Speaking of January's end, one of Pennsylvania's biggest days is only 11 days away — Groundhog Day. On Feb. 2, people will wonder if Punxsutawney Phil will be looking forward to this warmup as much as many of us are.
While you may look forward to all of that mild air, it will also create a large black ice problem with all of our melting snow refreezing at night.
Many of our rivers, large and small, have frozen over, and there may also be some ice damming as the ice thaws and breaks apart.
7-day NEXT Weather forecast:
Friday: Sunny. High 33, Low 18.
Saturday: Mostly sunny. High 34, Low 16.
Sunday: Back to 40s. High 45, Low 28.
Monday: Mostly sunny. High 46, Low 25.
Tuesday: A little more mild. High 49, Low 34.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. High 46, Low 27.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. High 40, Low 30.