Snow Possible Later in the Week

In case you didn’t hear, yesterday was National Weatherperson’s Day. It commemorates the birth of John Jeffries on Feb. 5, 1744.

Jeffries made the first weather observation using a balloon back in 1784 and was one of America’s first daily weather observers. Ben Franklin was another who made daily weather observations.

Of course, in the “olde” days weather observations didn’t include temperatures on the hour, visibility, dew point or wind chill. It was much more anecdotal, containing a narrative of the day’s weather, perhaps a temperature recording at dawn, midday and dusk, but lacking the detail that we have in today’s observations.

Jeffries did provide America some of the first advanced (for the time) observations, and as a result, National Weatherperson’s Day was parked on Feb. 5. Don’t expect the local Hallmark or Carlton Cards to have cards that you can send to Hurricane Schwartz or me anytime soon, however.

Shameless plug time: Phillyweather.net will be honoring the weatherpeople of Philadelphia all week, with the next several days highlighting a different forecaster or meteorologist from various backgrounds and media in the Delaware Valley. It will provide some information into them that you may not know—and personalize their story somewhat. We’re looking forward to highlighting these folks and hope you check out the site in the coming weeks.

Weathering Another Storm?

After a thaw to start the week, we have another shot of cold from Canada working east on Tuesday that will slap us in the face with a bit of Arctic chill. Things then get interesting with the potential for yet another snow event on Thursday and into Thursday night.

Computer guidance has been consistent in suggesting a storm system off the east coast in this timeframe, although the track varies quite a bit. The details will become clearer as Thursday approaches, but the potential for more snow exists later on this week.

Reprieve Thereafter?

Going out a bit farther, there are signs that the weather pattern may transition out of the somewhat colder than normal weather we've been experiencing.

Actually, the transition started at the beginning of the month with the ice events on Wednesday and Saturday morning as milder air aloft is tracking farther north. Without a dominant block near Greenland, the feature that had been keeping us below average the first two months this winter, the pattern has relaxed a fair bit while the brunt of the cold has shifted into Texas and the Plains.

Longer range guidance is suggesting that high pressure will flex across the southeast into mid-February, allowing for a more substantial break in the pattern. While we will be cold later this week and again this weekend, the trend in about 10 days’ time suggests a rather decent warming trend and the snowpack on the ground may soon be a memory.

February tends to be a mild month in La Niña years—it would not surprise me if we saw a brief tease of spring for a couple of weeks later this month. [Maybe Punxsutawney Phil was right? - Ed.]

Tom Thunstrom is a resident of Royersford and the creator of Phillyweather.net.