After spring-like and stormy conditions yesterday, a cold front moved through the Commonwealth overnight. The front brought with it a sharp drop in temperatures and mixed precipitation, leading to slick road conditions. Parts of the state picked up minor accumulations and gusty winds caused feels like conditions to plummet.

St. Patrick’s Day is a chilly day across the Commonwealth, with feels-like temperatures barely climbing above the teens. Gusty conditions remain with scattered snow showers possible throughout the day. Clouds will begin to clear out of the region during the evening and overnight hours.

Wednesday will see a break from the wet weather pattern. Sunny skies will be the case for the majority of the Commonwealth, and winds will remain light throughout the day and night. Chances for rain will return to the region later in the week as temperatures begin to increase for Pennsylvania.

The Commonwealth seems closer than ever to escaping this very drawn-out winter pattern. While we got our first hints at Springtime temperatures last weekend, the following work week was not as kind, as temperatures hovered around the upper 30s and low 40s, and several rounds of rain passed through midweek.

Friday’s conditions feature a steep temperature gradient across the Commonwealth. A warm air mass is slowly rolling in, and while higher elevations in the eastern reaches may still be near freezing, regions in the west are currently seeing temperatures climb to the low-60s. Fog has held steady through the morning hours, covering a very large percentage of the state. When this burns off, another round of showers is possible in the afternoon, with clouds remaining into the night.

Saturday will see temperatures soar to near or at the 70 degree mark, alongside a bit more sun. This will precede another cold front, and with it, our first convective activity of the year. A line of showers and thunderstorms is expected to roll from one end of the Commonwealth to the other in the afternoon and evening. Temperatures will drop again to the mid-50s on Sunday, although we will finally see some more consistent sunshine, and can finally look forward to a fair weather pattern and above-average temperatures across the region.

A wintry mess moved through the Commonwealth Tuesday, spreading snow, sleet, and freezing rain throughout the day. Areas of the central mountains picked up as much as 0.2″ of ice accretion. As the day went on, most areas outside of the higher elevations switched over to plain rain as temperatures increased.

Wednesday will feature cloudy skies and light mist and drizzle. Temperatures will rise above average again with most of the Commonwealth reaching the 50s for highs.

Another round of steady rainfall moves in on Thursday, with most regions of the Commonwealth picking up over a half inch of precipitation. This is much needed rainfall as the majority of Pennsylvania is currently under drought conditions. Rain will continue through much of the day, and could feature some isolated downpours. Keep the umbrella handy!

A potent winter storm brought double-digit snowfall totals across much of eastern Pennsylvania. Western regions, including Pittsburgh and Erie, only received totals up to an inch, while totals gradually increased eastward with a couple inches in State College and 4-5″ in the Harrisburg area.

These high precipitation amounts were a result of a coastal low that traveled northward up the East Coast throughout the weekend, bringing in plenty of moisture off of the Atlantic Ocean. Although the heaviest snowfall has passed, a few regions in the Poconos and Philadelphia metro area are still under winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings, respectively.

Turning to the rest of the week, the sun will briefly return tomorrow before another low pressure system moves through on Wednesday. This mixed precipitation event will bring a few inches of snowfall to western PA, although areas impacted by this weekend’s storm should not expect to add much to their snowpack, as precipitation will likely change over to rain as it heads eastward. Temperatures will slowly begin to climb after Wednesday, with the 50 degree mark in sight for many over the weekend.