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Weather Blog: Winter Officially Begins Wednesday

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The winter solstice is upon us, meaning autumn has come to an end and winter is officially beginning.

Although, Mother Nature must have gotten that memo early, because it has definitely been feeling winter-like around here for a while already.

Winter officially begins at 5:44 a.m. Wednesday, which means Wednesday boasts the shortest daylight duration of the year -- a mere 9 hours, 19 minutes and 58 seconds. The good news? After this, the days start getting longer again! And, though we flip the switch to winter, the weather will flip back to a more seasonable pattern.

Heading toward the all-important holiday weekend, the weather will be largely tranquil. Dry conditions will prevail on Wednesday with a good deal of sunshine, and temperatures will finally begin to moderate.

Normal highs for this time of year are in the low 40s, and we should be able to climb to the mid-40s, which will feel nice after two days stuck at 34 degrees.

A weak clipper will pass to our north on Thursday, but shouldn't bring anything more than cloud cover.

Friday brings us back to the mid-40s with sunshine.

We are continuing to look at the potential for showers over the holiday weekend. If we get any wet weather, it won't be much, but as of this writing, the most likely time would be Saturday evening into Saturday night, just in time for the start of Hanukkah at sundown and Santa's sleigh travels!

We will keep you posted on that potential as we head closer to the weekend, but in all, the weather should cooperate for any holiday travel plans -- sleigh or otherwise.

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