March 13th, 2008 Forecast
Now & This Evening: Expect a mix of sun and clouds as you finish up your day. Temperatures will generally be in the upper 40's and low 50's around Philadelphia and points north. South of Philly will be in the low and mid 50's as there has been some additional sunshine. Winds will gust from the west and northwest as high as 40 mph as a low pressure system intensifies over New England.Tonight: As the low pulls away we will see winds subside after 7 or 8 PM and skies will clear off. Temperatures will drop off into the upper 20's and low 30's across the region, which is just slightly below normal for this time of the year. While chilly, it's tolerable as winds will not be much of a factor later tonight.
Thursday: The parade of weak nuisance troughs and lows continues tomorrow as yet another low pressure system tracks by to our north during the afternoon and evening. Thursday will feature clear skies to start with increasing clouds in the afternoon as the system begins to move in. Temperatures should end up between 48 and 53 in the area, with low 50's in Philadelphia expected. There's a slight chance for a shower Thursday evening north of the city with the low but the best "energy" (there isn't much) should be over New York state, closer to the low pressure center.
Friday will be mild as we have another low tracking nearby and pulling warm air into the region. Showers are possible in the afternoon with this low as it moves into the region. There's a pretty big spread in model guidance thinking for Friday, with the GFS keeping us in the mid 50's but the NAM warming us into the 65-70 range. Temperatures should be in the low 60's as we will have southwest winds warming us in advance of the front. Saturday's storm system is starting to slide farther south and could bring some rain to Delaware and South Jersey, possibly as far north as Philadelphia. We will have clouds around and temperatures will be a bit cooler as a result, with highs near 50.Winter 2007-2008 Chill: Despite Philadelphia averaging just over two degrees above normal for the December-February time frame, the nation as a whole saw temperatures that were the second coldest on record over the past fifteen years, with only 1993-1994 and 2000-2001 being a colder winter.
The list of winters since 1994, their average temperature (high and low mixed), and their rank all-time:
| 2000 | 37.05 | deg | 1 |
| 1999 | 36.91 | deg | 2 |
| 1998 | 36.59 | deg | 4 |
| 2002 | 36.21 | deg | 5 |
| 1995 | 36.09 | deg | 8 |
| 2006 | 35.92 | deg | 11 |
| 2005 | 35.77 | deg | 12 |
| 2003 | 34.05 | deg | 30 |
| 1997 | 33.95 | deg | 35 |
| 2007 | 33.71 | deg | 40 |
| 2004 | 33.46 | deg | 48 |
| 1996 | 33.46 | deg | 48 |
| 2008 | 33.15 | deg | 60 |
| 1994 | 32.37 | deg | 77 |
| 2001 | 31.56 | deg | 90 |
This was the 113th winter where data has been measured and 2008 ended up averaging out in the colder half of statistical data (since 1895). The coldest winter all-time nationally was 1978-1979. This is also the second consecutive winter where temperatures nationally were outside of the top twenty warmest.
Data source from National Climatic Data Center.
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