Posted by Adam Gonsiewski
When he is not blogging Phillies for Philliedelphia and Flyers for another site, Adam is the lead forecaster at Millersville University. Finally, our resident weatherman can use the two together!
Courtesy www.nj.com
With Opening Day only 48 hours away, many question marks still remain as to whether the Phillies will even get the game in on Friday.
Intermittent light rain will begin late this evening as a low pressure system moves off the coast of the Carolinas. Unfortunately, a second, stronger storm will move up the coast in its wake. This second Nor'easter-type system is what could disrupt Phillies' first pitch.
Heavy rain will begin to fall in the Philadelphia region Thursday evening, and continue overnight into Friday morning. While rain may change over to flurries or light snow showers as the system moves Northward and pulls cold air in behind it, odds are against Philadelphia getting an accumulating snowfall. Areas to the North and West of Philly in the higher elevations could pick up a slushy coating to an inch.
At this point, it appears that most of the steady precipitation will be out of Philadelphia by first pitch. Showers will linger into the afternoon hours, but precipitation would not be as heavy as it was overnight.
I'll update the forecast tomorrow morning, and again on Friday morning. As of now, the timing of the system is what's most important to track. Right now, I am buying into the "earlier arrival/earlier out" timing.
Chance of Phillies Delay on Friday: 50%
Chance of Phillies Postponement on Friday: 40% (60% the Phillies get the game in!)
