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Community Corner

Winter Chill Later in the Week

The varying temperatures may prove for a frustrating winter.

Winter can be notoriously fickle around these parts. One week we can be in the 60s for a couple of days, threatening to bust out our mothballed shorts and drop the top on the cars; with the return of chill and reality lurking not far away. While this winter has been rather meager compared to the recent barrage in Europe, we will likely see a much more pronounced return to chill by later in the week.

Winter's bite by week's end will probably not equal that of the last two winters. It's going to be tough to get anything close to that; however, we will see temperatures trend colder and perhaps even below average (low-40s for highs) by Saturday and Sunday. Before that, however, a couple of steps down in temperatures take place.

The first is on Wednesday, with a weak system that slides through the region and spreads some light snow or mix of light rain/snow across the region. Precipitation looks rather meager with this, but it does look like a realistic shot at seeing some light snow fall from the sky. We might be lucky to squeeze out an inch or two of accumulation from this system. It's just as likely we see flurries and nothing at all as there is not a lot of moisture to work with. For those who are snowstarved and want lots of snow, this is better than nothing.

Find out what's happening in West Chesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The next potential chance for anything is Saturday into Sunday.  Computer modeling has been hinting at a storm system organizing in the Gulf of Mexico and lifting northeast for a while. Whether the track keeps it out to sea or brings it up along the East Coast is still to be determined but some computer modeling hints at the potential of a storm system for the upcoming weekend. This will also coincide with a cold surge that will push down into the Upper Great Lakes. A piece of this will push southeast in the form of a cold front on Friday evening/early Saturday.

If the timing comes together right, you could get a nice storm system along the East Coast but it's not a lock, not certain, and still several days away.

Find out what's happening in West Chesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In terms of temperatures, our mildest air will be Monday and Tuesday (50 to low-50s both days), with 40s (low on Wednesday, mid-to-upper on Thursday and Friday) for the rest of the work week.

The weekend features the most temperature uncertainty but the trend is to go colder and to have high temperatures in the 30s for Saturday and Sunday.

Last, on a promotional note, please check out Phillyweather.net all week long as we profile various meteorologists and forecasters that are on local and national television. Sunday was National Weatherperson's Day and in honor of that, we're running our second Philadelphia Weatherperson's Week on Phillyweather.net!

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