February 11, 2006
A major winter storm is going to affect the area the second part of Saturday all the way through mid-morning on Sunday. Snow is expected to break out around the area by late afternoon and last throughout the night with near blizzard conditions possible just to the South and East of Philadelphia.
The culprit is a vigorous storm system now taking shape over the Gulf Coast. Clouds associated with this storm system have already overspread the region and temps will hold steady in the lower 30s through mid morning. Light snow should start from the South in Cape May and spread Northward throughout the day. Snow will become heavy at times Saturday night in Delaware County, though the very heaviest of the snowfall should be South and East of the city this time into Southern and Central New Jersey. Blizzard conditions are possible just away from the coast Saturday night as this storm really begins to intensify extremely rapidly. Winds will increase to 15-20 mph locally and blowing and drifting snow will become an issue. Snow will end here by mid-morning on Sunday with only scattered snow showers remaining.
Accumulations in Delco will range from 5-10" with significantly higher totals South and East of the city of Philadelphia. There will be a tight gradient between heavy snow and light snow, so any slight shift in the track of this storm could throw these snowfall amounts off by quite a bit. Based on much of the model data tonight, our amounts are actually quite conservative. Reason being, too many times this season, storms have been slightly suppressed and more progressive than originally forecast. Thus, we feel the heaviest bands of snow will be South and East of Philly into Vineland and certainly parts of Central NJ rather than right over Delco.
So, a rather significant snowstorm for the area Saturday and part of Sunday. Accumulations of 5-10" expected around Delaware County with higher totals to the South and East of the city. A slight shift to the West and these totals increase significantly. More later!
S.B.
