TONIGHT: Turning out partly to mostly cloudy and mild with a passing shower possible late, mainly north and west. Low: 54
FRIDAY: Breezy at times and cooler as sunshine mixes with clouds. A stray shower can’t entirely be ruled out, mainly north and west. High: 65
FRIDAY NIGHT: Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray early shower can’t entirely be ruled out, again mainly north and west. Low: 50
Most have probably been enjoying fall weather at its finest over the last few days, with cool and mainly clear nights followed by increasingly mild and sunny days. Warmer than average temperatures returned for an encore Thursday as afternoon highs once again reached the mid 70s. The warmth won’t be lasting too much longer however as a late week cold front will deliver our next shot of cool and breezy weather just in time for the weekend. Don't expect much rain ahead of our front, just a scattered shower or two tonight. And the much cooler air will be delayed a day, so Friday looks more seasonable and mainly dry with a mix of sun and clouds. But come Saturday and Sunday, highs will struggle to even make it to 60 degrees, with brisk breezes adding a chill to the increasingly cooler air. There may be a spotty shower or two on Saturday, otherwise most of the weekend looks dry, albeit chilly compared to where we sit right now. The cool temperatures and breezes continue into early next week, with rain chances also possibly increasing Monday into Tuesday, depending on how a couple areas of low pressure and a frontal boundary interact.
DETAILED FORECAST
TONIGHT
We’ll be watching scattered showers and even some thunderstorms out across western and central Pennsylvania this evening trying to advance east and northeastward as a cold front tracks into our region. With the more favorable forcing in the atmosphere expected to largely stay away to the north and west of the region plus the heating of the day fading from sunset, we expect much of the shower and thunderstorm activity to our west to fizzle by the time it reaches our area. We won’t entirely rule out a stray shower, and maybe even a rumble of thunder, with the better chances for this to occur near and west of Interstate 81. Much of the region however should remain dry with nothing more than an increase in the cloud cover tonight. Overnight lows will be rather mild only dropping into the mid 50s.
FRIDAY
Behind the aforementioned cold front, winds shift to the west and northwest for Friday, but the coolest air will be delayed by a day. So while temperatures come down a bit from the past few days, we'll still see afternoon highs reach the mid to upper 60s, seasonable for this time of year, as a decent amount of sun to start the day gradually mixes with more cloud cover as the day progresses. The day is mainly dry, save a spotty shower developing in a few spots north and west of the Lehigh Valley during the afternoon and early evening, as a secondary cold front moves through.
THIS WEEKEND
That "fall feel" will become re-established and locked in this weekend, with brisk breezes and cooler than average temperatures. In fact, highs should only be in the upper 50s both Saturday and Sunday, with a breeze making it feel even cooler. Weather-wise, expect clouds mixed with some sunny intervals, with a shower or two possible, more so on Saturday, even though much of the time is dry. Overnight lows may drop into the upper 30s for most for the first time this season by Saturday night, but breezes will likely prevent any widespread frost. Sunday likely gets the nod as the better weekend day, as Saturday will have more clouds and the better chance for a few showers.
EARLY NEXT WEEK
A battle between high pressure to our north over eastern Canada and low pressure and a front to our south across the Mid-Atlantic will set up early next week. It looks cool and breezy with plenty of clouds, and highs still only in the mid to upper 50s. If the high wins out, we'll likely stay mostly dry. But if the low to our south has more influence on our weather, the clouds are thicker and rain chances go up both Monday and Tuesday.
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