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Philadelphia Weather: Cold Front To Bring Gusty Winds, Chance Of Wintertime Thunderstorm

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- After a dreary and wet Tuesday, the majority of Wednesday was dry with just cloudy skies. The break in the rainy action will come to a close tonight as another surface low and adjacent cold front looks to sweep through the region, bringing not just the potential for heavy rain, but also a chance for a pop-up severe thunderstorm as well, with the actual frontal passage.

Expect rain to really pick up as we move through the evening and especially in the thick of the overnight hours. Rain will be steady most of the night with pockets of heavy rain likely embedded within the overall larger area of rainfall.

As the cold front approaches from the west and gets closer to the region, atmospheric conditions will be slightly conducive for a severe thunderstorm to develop. Right now, the largest threat to the region would be strong, gusty winds.

tstorm headline graphic
Credit: CBS3

However, there are atmospheric conditions around that could potentially lead to a spin-up tornado, which is not being completely ruled out. Due to the severe chances tonight, the Storm Prediction Center has issued a Marginal Risk (Level 1 out of 5) for the western portion of the area.

Make sure you are staying weather aware during the nighttime hours.

After the front clears the area, we should dry out pretty quickly as we head toward sunrise on Thursday morning.

Expect a mix of sun and clouds throughout Thursday, with very gusty winds as well.

Temperatures Thursday will behave a bit differently than usual. We are likely to be in the 40s around 7 a.m., with a brief dip into the upper 30s through the mid-day, before another slight warm-up into the lower 40s for most of the afternoon.

snow squall graphic
Credit: CBS3

The winds will be the bigger story of the day. Gusts could be as high as 45 mph at times on Thursday, and with temperatures only in the low 40s, we should expect wind chill values to hover in the 20s most of the day.

The strong winds could even drive a few spotty snow showers or squalls in the afternoon as well. Conditions are then likely to stay cold and windy all the way through the coming weekend.

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