By Kyle Imhoff
Very mild temperatures early in the week will cool down to more seasonal levels by Wednesday ahead of an approaching storm.
Steady precipitation will overspread the region on Wednesday evening into the overnight hours. Precipitation will start as a period of rain, sleet, and freezing rain across much of the state, with some areas near the Mason-Dixon Line remaining plain rain throughout the entire overnight period. Temperatures hovering near freezing will slowly rise overnight, but some areas of northern and central Pennsylvania will struggle to rise above the freezing mark, leading to potentially icy roadways for the morning commute to work on Thursday. There may be a lull in precipitation during the afternoon on Thursday before another disturbance will bring more steady rain to the state by Thursday evening. During this period, western Pennsylvania has the potential to see mostly snow during the overnight period into Friday, while the remainder of the state will see mostly rain during the bulk of the heaviest precipitation that may transition to a wintry mix or snow showers as the storm comes to an end Friday afternoon and evening. Temperatures will cool down to more seasonal levels with afternoon highs in the 20’s and 30’s over the weekend. A weaker disturbance may bring another period of rain and snow, especially to the southern half of the state, later Saturday into early Sunday. Temperatures will become milder, again, early next week as another disturbance approaches the state towards the middle of the week. Given the active pattern over the next several days, most areas will see between one and two inches of liquid-equivalent precipitation through the middle of next week.
Over the past few days, long-range computer model guidance has come into agreement with Punxsutawney Phil with a noticeable trend from a cooler than normal February now looking like a rather mild month across the state. In addition, the models have also flipped from a drier February to a wetter than normal pattern for much of the eastern third of the United States through the end of the month.
Source : psu.edu