Flipping, Flopping, Temperatures & Raindrops Dropping

A warm, somewhat summery early morning in the Philadelphia region as temperatures are in the 60's just about everywhere.   The promised cold front is slow in its approach and taking its sweet time getting through the region, having just crossed Philadelphia and Wilmington in the last couple of hours.   It'll take a while for the cooldown to kick in, especially since winds are northwest this morning, but the 60's that we're experiencing going out the door will likely not be the case this afternoon around here as rain should sweep into the region later on today.   This morning won't be so bad but rain should pick up to the north/west over the next couple of hours, with the heaviest of rains for the rest of us likely late this afternoon through Midnight tonight.

Radar above shows light rain extending along Blue Mountain back into Central and Western Pennsylvania, where rains are steadier along the Appalachians.  Most of this morning's rains should generally stay confined to Philly and north.   An upper level low is back in the Ohio Valley and is responsible for today's downward spiral in the weather as rain pivots east later on, hitting the rest of the area after the lunch hours, with the brunt of the storm expected for the evening commute and this evening.   Rainfall could exceed an inch, perhaps an inch and a half in some spots, as surface low pressure intensifies and pulls in Atlantic moisture that will squeeze out over the region.   The intensifying low will also pull in cooler air off of the ocean and help drop temperatures...slowly at first later this morning, then in earnest this afternoon.   Temperatures could be in the low 50's for the evening commute.

The other story will be gusty winds with the intensifying surface low.  Winds could gust to 40 mph along the coast, to 35 mph inland, after 2 PM today.   Compared to yesterday's mid 80's across inland areas, the return of less than stellar weather continues our agonizing march to Spring.

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