That's German for "shit show," but I didn't want to have a profanity in the title of my post. (For the children.)
Here's why I called the end of February a bad word:
Rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, iceification, slush, slop.
Let me break it down to ... walnut brown.
It rhymes. And it's not suspiciously ethnocentric and possibly racist, unlike "I'll take you down to Chinatown."
BUT I DIGRESS.
So let's talk about the first thing, which is Sunday to Monday. And this time, I'll put the forecast for Berks, followed by the forecast for Norristown in brackets. Like this:
On Monday, the skies will teem with falling toads. High 47, low 29. [Monday: toads, toads, and more toads. 50/31.]
Note: the above is just an example; we will not be beset with any biblically cataclysmic precipitation. As far as I know.
Happy birthday today to my favorite actor working today, Mahershala Ali. He was in the fantastic film Green Book, he was in Hidden Figures, and he's in the new season of True Detective. And little-known fact: his entire first name is actually Mahershalalhashbaz. That's a MAN'S name right there.
Sunday 2/17: Scattered snow showers appear by 6pm. Continue on and off throughout the night. Ends by 6-7am Monday. Maybe a scattered snow or rain shower through 11am Monday. Accumulation a coating to an inch. High Sunday 37, low 30. [Scattered snow showers--possibly mixed with sleet--by 7pm. On and off overnight. Ends by 3-4am, with a few lingering snow showers possible through 10am. Accumulation a coating only.]
Monday 2/18 will turn out partly cloudy and breezy. High 41, low 22. [Ditto. High 42, low 25.]
Tuesday 2/19: sunny for most of the day. Increasing clouds by the evening. No snow til after midnight. High 36, low 25. [Ditto. 38/24.]
Snow starts (scattered showers) after midnight; some steadier snow throughout Wednesday morning. Steadiest snow will fall between noon and 8pm. Some mixing (and perhaps the worst travel issues) from 8pm-midnight. High Wednesday 33, low 27. Thursday will see a lingering chance for scattered rain or snow showers (or some freezing rain, which will SUCK). High 41, low 29. [Ditto. Steadiest snow 1pm-8pm. Mixing 4-8pm. Wednesday's high 34, low 29. Thursday, ditto. High 46, low 33.]
Guys, this looks like a sloppy mess. Cold air will dam (stay put in our area) and there will be plenty of moisture to fuel this storm. And there's a thing called overrunning, which basically means that even though surface temperatures will be around freezing, other parts of the atmosphere will be warmer, adding up to a mixed bag of frozen shitfulness.
Accumulation: 5-7 inches; if there is significant mixing, the snow totals will be down, but the road hazards will actually increase. [For Norristown: 3-5 inches; same thing about the mixing and the roads. *turd emoji*]
School scheduling snafus: isolated delays on Monday; widespread closures on Wednesday; widespread delays on Thursday.
And what's that you say? You want more? Alright.
The last four days of February have the potential to be pretty dicey. Prett-ay, prett-ay, prett-ay dicey. Lots of moisture, cold air stays in place. So gross.
P.S. Oh! Check out this link from the PSU Department of Meteorology website. Not terribly useful meteorologically, or germane to this discussion, but it's so badass! (Wait for the animation to load. I promise it's worth it.)