Latest AFD from Mount Holly on the upcoming potential event-
KEY MESSAGE 3...There is signal for an impactful winter storm to
impact portions of the area this weekend, however quite a bit of
uncertainty remains.
Signals of the upper level pattern by late week and the weekend
becomes quite active between the northern and southern stream jets.
The key elements embedded in these features are currently located
over the Arctic and the Pacific Ocean, so it`ll likely take a few
more days for guidance to become better aligned. In the meantime,
almost all available guidance depicts an area of low pressure
developing over the Southern Plains on Friday before tracking
eastward into the Deep South on Saturday. Beyond Saturday, its
uncertain where the track of the low may go. The main player here is
the Arctic high to the north and how strong the high becomes. Some
guidance depicts a very strong high near 1044mb, which results in a
suppressed storm track keeping any significant precipitation to the
south. Whereas, a weaker high would result in a more northerly storm
track and potentially bringing significant accumulation to the area.
Considering that the system is 5-6 days out, the signal for a winter
storm to impact at least portions of the area do appear to be
stronger than usual. In fact, snow probabilities of the NBM show a
40-60% chance of 2+ inches of snow and a 20-40% chance of 6+ inches
of snow for areas south of Philadelphia. Probabilities do lessen
further north. Even the Probabilistic Winter Storm Severity Index
(WSSI-P), depicts a 40- 60% chance of moderate level winter
storm impacts to the south of Philadelphia. Obviously a lot can
change between now and the weekend, but users should keep a
close eye on the forecast over the coming days.