Holy Mess: The Aftermath + what's next?
As I look out my window at still-covered limbs and power lines (as well as plenty of twigs and branches on the ground), I am thankful mine is not one of the thousands of households in the area that lost power. Aside from the outages, we're dealing with dense fog in some areas (particularly Delaware and South Jersey) due to the rapidity of temperature change.
The weather stations in the area are all above freezing as of now (12:30pm) - between 33 and 37 degrees, generally. Expect afternoon highs to approach 40 before beginning the plummet after 5pm or so, eventually reaching 20 degrees by the Thursday morning commute. We could see a rain or snow shower or two late this afternoon or evening, but nothing major.
Thursday will be mostly sunny and colder, with a high struggling to reach 30 and gusty daytime winds. Friday will also be sunny but less windy; high will be at 32 or so.
Probability of at least a delay Thursday, 75% (as I said, it's going to be around 20 in time for the morning commute, and some folks--not to mention schools--will still be dealing with power outages by tomorrow morning. And this afternoon's meltage could refreeze as well.)
Probability of cancellation Thursday, 55% (for the reasons listed above.)
Probability of at least a delay Friday, 60% (temperatures will be in the mid teens during the Friday morning commute, so things could be dicey again.)
Probability of cancellation Friday, 35% (for the reasons listed above. Plus, at this point, what's another snow day? Mifflin has now had five.)
The next system to affect our area will move in Friday night - snow showers will begin by 9 or 10pm and continue overnight, with the steadiest precipitation to fall late Saturday morning into Saturday afternoon. The system winds up with some snow showers approaching midnight Saturday. There will likely be some mixing (snow mixed with sleet or even freezing rain for a time), but the majority of this precipitation will be snow. I expect 3 to 5 inches of accumulation here.
I heard that stream of profanity, and it's not very couth, my friend. We're all frustrated by this brutal winter. But hey - Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow this morning, so we're in for an early spring! Well no, I don't think it's anatomically possible for a groundhog to do that to himself.
There's the further possibility of snow and mixed precipitation on Monday 2/7 into Tuesday 2/8.
Alright, using those words is just uncalled for. Surely we can express ourselves more appropriately? We're two-thirds of the way through meteorological winter (December, January, February) and this is the shortest month of the year! No, I will not take a long walk off a short pier. That's just hateful.
And Saturday the 12th into Sunday the 13th could be ugly as well.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Honestly, I've never heard such filth in all my life. What the h-e-double-hockey sticks is going on here, guys? Alright, for those of you who feel you need profanity to express your rage, perhaps this clip will be cathartic:
Stay tuned for updates...