Jarring weather shift out East; 60s to 12”+ snows in just 2 days
Snow covered the ground as Thursday dawned in northwest Indiana—a radical change from 70s only a day before. But even more jarring weather changes threaten residents out East Friday into Saturday as a rapidly intensifying late-winter storm bears down on the area. As a slushy, travel-snarling and occasionally heavy mix of snow, sleet and rain sweeps into areas from Philadelphia north to New York City and Boston, areas just west are to trade Thursday’s unseasonable 60s for a foot or more of wet snow. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Penn., where highs hit 67° Wednesday, could see an 11-13” snow accumulation while Albany, N.Y., with a 65° Wednesday high, appears headed for 12-16” of snow.
Chicagoans shivered through a 38° high Thursday—35 degrees off Wednesday’s record 73° at O’Hare. But, record-tying 82° warmth headlined the weather Thursday at Richmond, Va., while Myrtle Beach, S.C., hit 74°. Out West, Phoenix, Ariz., reached 92°—its second record high in a row.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist