Hazardous Weather Outlook Issued For 3rd Nor'easter

Forecasting models are still not in agreement on the possibility of a third nor'easter storm in the coming days, leaving area residents, who have already endured two vicious March storms, wondering if there's more agony to come.

The possibility of more winter weather is being monitored by the National Weather Service, which on Friday afternoon issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook across the Philadelphia region in connection with the potential storm.

According to the National Weather Service, a coastal storm — the third so far in March — could impact the area with snow or rain on Monday.

The forecast is far from certain, however. While the NWS says "the potential exists for accumulating snow," it will ultimately depend on the storm's track as well as temperatures.

Meteorologists at NBC10 said Friday that the likelihood of the third storm impacting the Philadelphia area is increasing. "Several computer models that we rely on to forecast an impending storm’s track are not in agreement, but were beginning to agree that we will see an impact as of late Thursday," NBC10 reported.

Forecasters at AccuWeather say they've been watching the storm all week. There are two possible scenarios, that agency says. The storm could move to the south, or it could track north. And if if heads north, that could mean yet another winter storm for our region Sunday into Monday.

"At this time, we feel there is a better than 50/50 percent chance the worst of the storm will stay to the south and east of New York City," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek said in a news release Saturday.

The severity of the storm in Eastern Pennsylvania will depend on its strength and whether or not temperatures dip into the low to middle 30s, or spend most of the time in the 40s. The storm is likely to strengthen quickly enough to produce gusty winds along part of of the mid-Atlantic coast, according to AccuWeather.

The Weather Channel as of Saturday continues to say the forecast is uncertain. "There is the potential for this low-pressure system to then track north-northeast close to the coast. The result would be some coastal locations from the mid-Atlantic to New England receiving significant snow and wind."

The news of this possible storm comes after back-to-back Nor'easters that devastated the area with road closures and power outages.

The first storm descended upon the region on March 2. Significant snow fell, dropping as much as 9 inches in some parts of suburban Philadelphia. Widespread power outages resulted from the Friday storm — as much as a half a million customers in Eastern Pennsylvania were without electricity at one point.

Many people didn't get their power back for days — just in time for the next storm to come Wednesday and knock it right back out again.

Wednesday's storm was a monster, dumping as much as 16 inches of snow in suburban Philadelphia. Roads were not passable, schools were closed and more mass power outages resulted.

PHOTO by Kara Seymour