Weather Blog 1/17/24

After a quick hitting snowfall throughout the day on Thursday, plenty of melting occurred on Friday, as temperatures peaked into the mid 30s to low 40s across the Commonwealth. Although many of these high temperatures were close to seasonal averages for this time of the year, conditions felt much more mild compared to the cold beginning of the week. Pleasant conditions were felt across much of the state, as early morning clouds subsided and gave way to more sunshine in the afternoon.

A pleasant day on Friday will be followed up by sloppy conditions on Saturday, as our next weather maker moves in, spreading a wintry mix across the Commonwealth. Snow will spread across the northwest region of the state from west to east during the morning hours. Although not much accumulation is expected, some spots may become slick. Precipitation will spread across the southwestern portion of the state, where up to a quarter of an inch of rain is expected with some snowflakes mixing into the higher elevations. The eastern half of the state can expect sprinkles of rain and some occasional flurries in the Poconos.

As the latter half of Martin Luther King Weekend arrives, we are watching a potential coastal snowmaker, with a widespread plowable snowfall likely across eastern Pennsylvania. Depending on the position of this system off the coast, some areas of central Pennsylvania may tap into the snowfall, with the western third of the state likely to remain dry. Following this snowmaker, an arctic air mass will drop temperatures into the single digits after the Monday holiday, with wind chill temperatures for the middle of next week dropping as low as 30 degrees below 0.