Mostly sunny after another brutally cold week in the Philadelphia region. Here's the forecast.
After the coldest winter in the 10 years we finally start to warm up on this last weekend of both winter and February.
The normal high for this time of year is 46 degrees, and we will come up short of that mark with highs in the low 40s. At least skies will be sunny and winds light – so you'll need layers but not heavy winter gear.
Sunday, our winds will be from the west and southwest, ushering in warmer air. Highs will finally be seasonable in the upper 40s with plenty of sunshine.
The week ahead will be above average with highs in the 50's and even pushing 60 by Tuesday. There are several chances for rain showers this week with isolated showers possible later on Tuesday and likely rain showers on Thursday. Otherwise, it will be a quiet week with a mix of sun and clouds.
And although it may be tempting to locate the shorts and flip-flops with warmer air on the horizon, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Old Man Winter still has a few tricks up his sleeve and next weekend – as a start to March and the spring months – we may actually see another quick shot of cold air and a dip back to the 30s for highs.
The spring seasonal outlook from the Climate Prediction Center is for a warmer-than-average three-month stretch between March 1 and May 31. That does not mean we will be warm the entire time because the outlook is based on the trend and is an average of the 3 months.
Spring may include one very cold month and two warm months that would average warmer than normal temperatures. Or possibly 3 months that are not extremely warm but instead just a degree or two above average or one extremely warm month and two cold months.
Sunrise and sunset times for Philadelphia: more daylight!
One nice benefit of the spring months is the increase in hours of daylight each day.
Our sunrise today was a 6:44 a.m. and sunset will be at 5:45 p.m.. In two weeks on March 9 Daylight Saving Time begins and although we face the dreaded loss of one hour of sleep from flipping the clock ahead one hour, we will see a later sunset at 7:02 p.m. Kind of nice to enjoy that extra daylight after work and school.
Finally, astronomical spring, AKA the vernal equinox, takes place in one month on March 20. That day our sunset will be at 7:14 p.m.
Here's the 7-day forecast:
Saturday: Sun and clouds. High 41, low 20.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. High 47, low 28.
Monday: Partly cloudy. High 53, low 29.
Tuesday: Chance PM shower. High 59, low 35.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. High 56, low 39.
Thursday: Rain showers. High 53, low 38.
Friday: Partly cloudy. High 50, low 38.
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