Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Mt. Holly, NJ
Issued by NWS Mt. Holly, NJ
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667 FXUS61 KPHI 061937 AFDPHI Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ 237 PM EST Sat Dec 6 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Weak high pressure will settle into the area tonight, then move offshore and dissipate on Sunday. A cold front will cross the region and move offshore Sunday night, ushering in arctic high pressure with much colder and drier conditions through Tuesday. Another low pressure and frontal system will impact the region Wednesday, followed by yet another low pressure system late in the week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/... A subtle mid-level impulse traversing the region will move offshore by this evening. The region will remain under enhanced westerly flow aloft through Sunday with a shortwave axis associated with an upper- low over the Hudson Bay to the northwest of the region and a large scale trough over the eastern half of the Continental US. At the surface, broad high pressure will build in from the west, with a strong cold front beginning to approach western portions of the area by the evening hours. Low clouds and patchy drizzle have been persistent into this afternoon, but the drizzle is finally departing. Clouds should follow, with clearing from northwest to southeast this evening. A good portion of the overnight hours are expected to be mostly clear, before high level clouds begin to filter in again towards sunrise. Winds will be light tonight, favoring a westerly or northwesterly direction. Lows look to be in the low to mid 20s outside of the coastal plain and urban corridor, where they should bottom out in the upper 20s to near 30. Worth noting is that while not currently anticipated, some patchy fog is not entirely out of the question, especially in areas that saw prolonged light precipitation into this afternoon. If this were to occur, freezing on elevated surfaces would be a concern. Widespread high clouds are likely to continue overspreading the region on Sunday. Winds will become southwesterly but remain relatively light around 5-10 mph. High temperatures look to be in the mid to upper 30s northwest of the fall line, and the low to mid 40s southeast. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... The main story for the short term period Sunday night through Tuesday will be the well below normal temperatures (on the order of 15-20 degrees below normal) following a cold frontal passage Sunday night. A split flow pattern will remain in place through early next week, with the main feature of interest being a trough axis passing to our south Monday night. A dry cold front will push through the region Sunday night as low pressure slides off to our northeast, giving way to rather cold and dry arctic high pressure building in from the Great Lakes through Tuesday morning. The high will then shift offshore during the day Tuesday, with some SSW return flow developing later in the day. The trend in a less amplified trough continues, and thus appears the frontal passage should be mostly dry, aside from perhaps some flurries north of I-78. The surface high and subsidence locally looks strong enough to keep the system developing off the Carolina coast suppressed to our southeast. With an overnight frontal passage Sunday night, low temperatures into Monday morning won`t be exceptionally cold, and should be mainly from the low to mid 20s (10s for the higher elevations north of I-78). However, wind chills by dawn Monday will be quite cold in the low to mid 10s across the board (as low as 0 degrees across the Pocono Plateau) as northerly winds increase to near 10-15 mph. High temperatures for Monday will be the coldest of this arctic blast, ranging from the mid 20s to mid 30s (low 30s for the I-95 corridor). With the continuing northerly winds near 10-15 mph (gusting up to 25 mph), daytime wind chills will only max out in the mid 10s to mid 20s. The coldest night of the week and likely so far this season for most areas will be Monday night into Tuesday morning. As the high pressure builds in over the area maximizing subsidence, skies should clear out enough to give us decent radiational cooling conditions. Forecast low temperatures range from the single digits near/north of I-78 to the low to mid 10s in most other areas, and closer to 20 degrees for the immediate coastal areas. Fortunately, winds will be light to calm, so the wind chill will not be much of a factor. As the high pressure shifts offshore on Tuesday, we will get into some return flow and airmass modification into the afternoon hours. High temperatures will rebound a few degrees, mainly in the low to mid 30s and closer to 40 degrees near the coast. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... Guidance diverges significantly on solutions to the forecast for the middle to especially end of the week. Overall, temperatures look to remain below normal through the end of the week as a couple low pressure systems impact the region, followed by potential for an arctic outbreak and sustained well below normal temperatures next weekend. It appears we`ll have a "warm up" of temperatures closer to normal, but still a few degrees below normal for Wednesday ahead of another frontal system. Forecast highs are in the low to mid 40s and near 50 degrees toward the coast. This system is more likely to bring precipitation to portions of the region, especially near/north of I- 78. Some snow is possible for the higher elevations with rain more likely elsewhere. The precipitation from this system will be insignificant, with primarily some light rainfall and light (a dusting) of snow anticipated at the moment. Following frontal passage Wednesday night or early Thursday, temperatures should fall a few degrees again. The next system will probably impact the region Thursday night or Friday, so we`ve maintained the chance PoPs for this time frame. Any details with this late week system remain very unclear, as guidance varies widely in the timing, track, and strength of it. As with the Wednesday system, it currently appears to be a relatively quick moving and insignificant system, but there`s still time for that to change. While technically outside the current forecast period, it should be noted that an arctic outbreak with well below normal temperatures looks to be on the horizon beginning next weekend. A few consecutive days of temperatures on the order of 10-20 degrees below normal are possible. && .AVIATION /19Z SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... The following discussion is for KPHL, KPNE, KTTN, KABE, KRDG, KILG, KMIV, KACY and surrounding areas. Through 00Z...MVFR and even brief periods of IFR ceilings remain for KMIV, and KACY, with VFR elsewhere. Ceilings should lift/scatter out by 20-21Z. VFR for all terminals thereafter. West wind 5-10 kt. Moderate confidence. Tonight...VFR. West-northwest wind 5 kt or less. There is a low chance (less than 20%) for the development of patchy fog. Moderate confidence. Sunday...VFR. Southwesterly wind 5-10 kt. High confidence. Outlook... Sunday night through Monday...VFR. Gusty NNW winds developing for Monday following FROPA. Monday night through Tuesday night...VFR. No significant weather. Wednesday through Thursday...Restrictions possible (30-50% chance) in low clouds and rain. && .MARINE... No marine headlines are anticipated through Sunday. West- northwest winds tonight will be 10-15 kt, and become west- southwesterly on Sunday around 10 kt. Seas will be 2-4 feet. Outlook... Sunday night through Monday night...Advisory conditions expected.northerly winds increasing to near 20-30 kts following Sunday overnight FROPA. Some occasional gale force gusts near 35 kts possible. Seas building to 4-6 feet. Tuesday...No marine hazards expected. Wednesday through Thursday...Advisory conditions likely. Winds increasing to near 20-30 kts and seas building 5-8 feet. A chance of rain. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... As a result of the Full Moon on December 4th, some minor tidal flooding will be possible during the daytime high tides through Sunday. This is primarily for the NJ and DE coasts and lower Delaware Bay. It does appear that tidal departures will increase slightly into Sunday, increasing the chance for minor tidal flooding especially for the southern New Jersey and Delaware coasts, including parts of the lower Delaware Bay. However, latest guidance keeps water levels below advisory thresholds. No tidal flooding is expected elsewhere. && .CLIMATE... Very cold Monday Night into Tuesday Morning. At this point, we aren`t forecasting to break any record lows. Below are the record lows for December 9. SITERECORD/YEAR Allentown (ABE) 7/2002 AC Airport (ACY) 6/1968 AC Marina (55N) 5/1876 Philadelphia (PHL) 6/1876 Wilmington (ILG) 13/1960 Reading (RDG) 0/1989 Trenton (TTN) 12/2002 Mount Pocono (MPO) -1/1902 Georgetown (GED) 10/1976 && .PHI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PA...None. NJ...None. DE...None. MD...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Staarmann NEAR TERM...Cooper SHORT TERM...Staarmann LONG TERM...Staarmann AVIATION...Cooper/Staarmann MARINE...Cooper/Staarmann TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...WFO PHI CLIMATE...WFO PHI