The last 24 hours will see the coolest temperatures for a little while here in State College. As we begin to approach the weekend conditions will improve to over the 40 line and beyond. A huge departure from this time last week when we experienced snow and wind.

 

Starting on Saturday is when we can see temperatures in the low 40s accompanied by partly cloudy skies. Sunday will be much of the same but with overcast skies instead of some sun.

 

The next chance for precipitation will arrive middle of next week, and come in the form as mostly rain. Temperatures will hold steady in the mid 40s for the better part of the week. Friday of next week will see the first return to below 40.

A clipper system diving out of Canada draped a warm front across the Commonwealth throughout the day on Tuesday, allowing the entire state to rise above freezing for the first time in 18 days. This relative warmth will be short lived, but unlike the first 9 days of the month, there is no more arctic air on the way. A cold front passed through Pennsylvania early Wednesday morning, prompting temperatures to fall slowly across the state.

Behind the cold front, wind speeds have picked up drastically, sustained between 10 and 20 miles per hour gusting as high as 30 miles per hour. Wind speeds will decrease throughout the day as the cold front pushes south into the Mid Atlantic. Up sloping snow showers are possible across Western Pennsylvania, with Winter Weather Advisories in effect for the Laurel Highlands through 3pm this afternoon.

High pressure will dominate our weather pattern through the end of the week, before a potential storm system moves in for the latter half of the weekend into early next week. This system could produce a plow-able snowfall, but still too early to define exact snowfall totals.

This weekend brought another round of frigid temperatures; Pennsylvania saw lows drop below zero on Friday night. Saturday’s conditions were also exaggerated by gusty winds, with dangerous wind chills present across the state.

Luckily, temperatures are rebounding to start the work week, with much of the Commonwealth seeing highs above freezing for the first time in February. This will begin to make a dent in the snowpack remaining from the late January snow storm. Low temperatures will remain below freezing for much of the week, so watch out for icy conditions if melting snow refreezes overnight.

A dry week is expected, with little chance of measurable precipitation for Pennsylvania. The next round of possible rain will be on Sunday.

 

Our resident prognosticator, Mr. Phil, has declared six more weeks of winter! This should come as no surprise after looking out the window at the robust snowpack that has remained for over a week. After a past couple years of mild temperatures and snowfall totals, Phil’s forecast certainly seems realistic.

Despite the prediction that occurred in Punxsutawney this morning, no significant snowfall is expected in the near future. Other than a few flurries overnight tomorrow, we will have to wait until Friday for a potential couple inches of snow to accumulate.

After a frigid weekend, temperatures slowly begin to rebound closer to average with highs nearing 30, although overnight lows remain in the single digits. This warm-up will come to a crashing halt beginning Saturday as a cold front lowers temperatures back to the teens.