Temps Surge Into the 70s With Threat of Severe Storms

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)--A wild ride to start March as temperatures surge to the 70's - but not for long.

We'll challenge records all across the region on Wednesday with a robust southwest flow edging temperatures once again into the seventies. While this sounds like a wonderful, spring-like way to start the new month, unfortunately the warmth comes hand in hand with another spring staple - severe weather.

In a setup reminiscent of what we experienced last Saturday, temperatures will surge ahead of an advancing cold front, which will move through late Wednesday night. The storms, however, will occur ahead of the frontal passage.

OVERNIGHT

We'll see some showers and fog overnight, and the remnants of an overnight squall line may make it into our area tomorrow morning, with showers and thunderstorms possible around 9-10 am. But this isn't the worst of it.

WEDNESDAY

Midday, temperatures will surge and instability will build, and we'll see yet another line develop off to the west. This will likely move through very rapidly between 4 and 6 p.m. with storms capable of producing wind gusts in excess of 60mph, hail, and brief flooding downpours. While the threat for tornadoes is low, it's not non-existent. With a broad rotation in the atmosphere as the system moves through, there is the chance that this line could spawn an isolated tornado or two. This looks to be more likely in areas to our far south and west where instability will be greater and moisture more plentiful.

LOOKING AHEAD

Again, much like this weekend, temperatures will plummet behind the cold front as winds veer to the west. We'll wake up Thursday morning to temperatures in the 30's, and by Friday morning a clipper may even deliver the chance for snow showers!