New Long-Range Winter Forecast Released For Pennsylvania, And It's Not Good

If the latest long-range forecast is correct, it's a good time to start shopping for a new snow shovel.

The long-range forecast, released by AccuWeather, predicts it will be an extended winter for Pennsylvania, as cold and snowy conditions will likely stretch into spring 2017. Frequent storms across the northeastern U.S. — particularly in the Northeast — this winter may lead to an above-normal season for snowfall, according to an AccuWeather release.

"I think the Northeast is going to see more than just a few, maybe several, systems in the course of the season," AccuWeather Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok said.

Unlike last season, in which most of winter's snowfall came from a few heavy-hitting storms, this winter will last into the early or middle part of spring and will feature frequent snow events, AccuWeather forecasters predict.

Pastelok said much of the accumulation will be in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, New Jersey and south of Washington, D.C. These areas will see a handful of changeover systems, where falling snow transitions to rain and sleet.

"But still, Boston, Hartford, along the coastal areas up into Connecticut and southern New England, they can still have a fair amount of snow," he said.

Overall, it's predicted that the region will total a below-normal number of subzero days, though the temperature will average 3-5 degrees Fahrenheit lower than last year.

The Old Farmer's Almanac, meanwhile, also has released its long-range weather predictions for the rest of 2016 and into 2017. If the publication's long-range forecast is accurate, the Philadelphia region would expect above-normal temperatures this winter in the central part of the Atlantic Corridor region, which includes Eastern Pennsylvania.

Read more: Farmer's Almanac Releases Long-Range Forecast For 2017 In Pennsylvania

Patch file photo