Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes

Author: Anthony R. Wood

  • Philly-area rain totals varied dramatically, and drought conditions survived the storms

    Philly-area rain totals varied dramatically, and drought conditions survived the storms

    The storms took down trees and wires, flooded roads, spoiled a World Cup party, and set off a deluge of smartphone panic alerts. But they evidently didn’t come close to erasing the rain deficits throughout the Philly region.

    Even with the additional light rains on Tuesday, bringing the two-day total to about 1.45 inches, officially Philadelphia’s rainfall for June still is slightly below normal, and this is after an extraordinary streak of 10 consecutive months of below-normal precipitation.

    And Monday’s storms exhibited a classic summer caprice. Areas of New Jersey and Chester County, both under state-declared drought emergencies, were all but stiffed, according to an analysis by the National Weather Service’s Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center. Northwestern Philadelphia and southeastern Montgomery County got as much as 2 inches.

    The weather service’s Mount Holly office reported that totals within counties varied radically. In Bucks County, for example, 1.8 inches was measured in Bristol and just over a half inch in Doylestown. Across the river, 2.4 inches fell upon Sewell, and about 0.75 in Monroe Township.

    “Some areas got it, some didn’t,” said Ben Casella, executive director of the New Jersey Farm Bureau. It can “rain here, but it may not rain on the other side of town,” he said.

    Not all of that Monday rain was beneficial, said Andrew Frankenfield, educator with the Penn State Agriculture extension in Montgomery County. Some of the water in those downpours on Monday rushed to the gutters and didn’t stop to soak into the soil.

    And those cloudbursts certainly weren’t beneficial to people routed from the World Cup fan fest in Fairmount Park, or to some motorists. Numerous water rescues were reported in the Wyncote section of Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County, And the weather service noted several reports of flooded streets and rushing water up to a foot deep floating cars in Germantown.

    Tuesday’s gentle rains, Frankenfield said, were more beneficial to the plant life, which is only going to get thirstier as the summer progresses.

    Is more rain coming to the Philly region?

    Showers are possible Thursday, said Alex Staarmann, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, with a better shot Friday night and Saturday.

    However, these may again be lottery-ball situations, something with which farmers are well acquainted.

    Generally throughout the region through Monday, precipitation was running about 75% of normal, on average about 5 inches below normal, according to the river center, which bases its surveys on several measuring stations in each county.

    The latest interagency U.S. Drought Monitor map had most of the region in “moderate drought,” but Cape May County and areas of New Jersey near Delaware Bay are in “extreme drought.” Those regions were all but shut out from the Monday downpours.

    They evidently fared a bit better on Tuesday, with the Millville airport reporting about a third of an inch, and a half inch measured in Sea Isle City.

    While the rains were welcome, the drought anxieties persist, Casella said.

    “As we turn the calendar into July, the crops are going to need more moisture,” Frankenfield said.

    “We certainly need more” rain, he said. “We can’t make it up in a week, we can’t make it up in a month. We’re concerned, but not alarmed.”

  • Storms move through the Philly area, bringing heavy rains, tornado warnings, and flooding

    Storms move through the Philly area, bringing heavy rains, tornado warnings, and flooding

    After 10 months of precipitation deficits, the Philadelphia region was due for some drought relief — but maybe not this much relief, this fast.

    Powerful thunderstorms that set off tornado and severe-storm warnings and waterfall-like downpours arrived in the region Monday just in time for the peak afternoon commute and the France vs. Iraq World Cup match in South Philly.

    And while the tornado warnings and the worst of the storms had backed off by nightfall, the rains were reluctant to give it up, and the National Weather Service warned that more heavy showers are possible Tuesday.

    “It’s been a while since we had rains like this,” said Patrick O’Hara, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, which issued multiple flood warnings into the evening. Flooding occurred on the Schuylkill Expressway near Gladwyne, and several water rescues were reported in Cheltenham Township.

    Frankford Creek in Philadelphia rose well into moderate flood stage.

    The agency also had issued two tornado warnings for parts of Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties after Doppler radar had detected radar signatures.

    Multiple uprooted trees were reported in the Valley Forge area, officials said. Several reports of downed wires and trees branches and hailstones came from across the region from Chester County and South Jersey.

    The timing could have been worse, but maybe not much worse for World Cup participants and the nearly 70,000 fans who came to watch the rain-interrupted match.

    A severe-storm warning for Philly popped up just as the World Cup match between France and Iraq in South Philly was underway. That was quickly followed by one for Southwest Philadelphia, parts of Delco, and South Jersey.

    The weather service’s flash flood watch remained in effect until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

    On Monday afternoon an early arriving strong storm passed through parts of Philadelphia and Burlington County, snapping trees and taking down “multiple branches” in the Holmesburg section of the city, the weather service said.

    That was followed by a potent storm that generated strong winds and torrential rains north and west of the city and then even stronger storms and flooding downpours throughout the region.

    Will the rains end the Philly region’s drought conditions?

    Not likely. Life is not fair, and neither is summer rain, which by its nature is capricious.

    About 1.2 inches of rain was measured at Philadelphia International Airport on Monday, with over an inch of that falling between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

    The rains weren’t evenly distributed across the region, but the Philly total is of some significance: It brought the city’s total close to the normal for June.

    Based on the forecasts of the potential for more substantial rains Tuesday, Phllly stands to break an impressive streak of 10 consecutive months of below-normal precipitation.

    Most of the region is in “moderate drought” according to the inter-agency U.S. Drought Monitor, and Cape May County, most of Delaware, and New Jersey areas along the Delaware Bay are in “extreme drought.”

    State-declared drought emergencies are in effect for New Jersey and Chester County.

    It is unclear how helpful Monday’s rains were in terms of dousing the drought condtions.

    Downpours aren’t known for their attention spans, and rains can run off rapidly.

    “If the rain doesn’t penetrate the soil, it doesn’t help,” said O’Hara, “Ideally, it would soak into the ground over a couple-day period. That would really help.”

  • Strong storms and downpours Monday could affect Philly’s next World Cup match

    After 10 months of precipitation deficits, the region is expected to experience severe storms and much-needed rain on Monday — unfortunately, the worst might coincide with the timing of the France vs. Iraq World Cup match in South Philly.

    The strongest could arrive around the scheduled start of the match, at 5 p.m., said Brian Hurley, senior branch meteorologist with the federal Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md.

    Given how daytime heating can add volatility to the atmosphere, with severe-thunderstorm threats in the Mid-Atlantic region, he said, in the late afternoon “we’re always asking for it.”

    The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., which issues those severe storm watches, listed a 2% chance of tornadoes, and an “isolated” twister can’t be ruled out, said Nick Guzzo, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.

    The storm center listed a 15% chance of damaging straight-line winds with gusts approaching 60 mph.

    With the anticipated moisture capacity of the atmosphere on Monday, localized downpours that could wring up to 2 inches of rain in a hurry could set off localized flooding.

    “Not everyone will get them,” said Hurley.

    He said a round of heavy showers is likely in the late afternoon or early evening, and then it’s possible that rains will shut off, with even an outside shot at a rainbow.

    But more rain is likely later at night and during the overnight hours.

    Overall, forecasters said, just about every area of the region should get a half-inch of rain.

    Officially, Philadelphia has had 10 consecutive months of below-normal precipitation. All of New Jersey and Chester County are under state-declared “drought emergencies,” although conditions have been improving.

    Most of the rest of the region is in “moderate drought,” according to the interagency U.S. Drought Monitor.

    On the plus side, no more extreme heat is in the forecast, with highs topping out in the 80s through next Sunday.

  • 150 years, 2 world wars, 32 mayors, and 28 presidents later, a store still thrives in a bankrupt city

    150 years, 2 world wars, 32 mayors, and 28 presidents later, a store still thrives in a bankrupt city

    Humans still answer the phones. The business is family-owned and run by women. But perhaps the most remarkable aspect of T. Frank McCall’s is the reality that the store is still there, next to the railroad tracks in the Delaware County riverfront city of Chester, where it has been since 1876.

    It has somehow survived through the administrations of 28 presidents, 32 governors, and 32 mayors; two world wars; the Great Depression; and the collapse of Chester’s economy that has climaxed with a rare municipal bankruptcy, By the time the Philadelphia Phillies played their first game in 1883, McCall’s had been in business for seven years at Sixth and Madison Streets.

    The building has retained the faint odors of the company’s seed-and-grain roots. But these days the houses that had lined the streets are long gone. The nearest neighbor is a remnant of a factory that once was part of the city’s industrial might. The store’s owners are bemused by the unused bicycle lane on the other side of Madison Street, and the superfluous parking restrictions.

    The remnants of an abandoned factory building sit next to McCall’s.

    McCall’s sells janitorial and cleaning supplies, but rather than a traditional “jan/san” business, it is more like a hybrid wholesale general store. That its website features a snowfall image is fitting: It made a killing selling ice-melters this winter to SEPTA, Philadelphia, and other customers.

    The assortment evidently continues to work; McCall’s generates about $10 million in annual revenue, said owner Lisa Witomski, whose father bought the company from the family of the original owners in 1957 in a decade when businesses were pulling out of Chester.

    What explains the staying power?

    In part, Witomski said, McCall’s sells things people have to have. “Nobody really wants to buy janitorial supplies, but if you have customers or employees, you need them.”

    Staying in the one location in Chester, even though only a tiny percentage of the revenue comes from in-store sales, has been an asset, Witomski said. Customers know where to find them, and the company owns the 50,000-square-foot facility outright; the mortgage was paid off in 1880.

    The county estimates the property’s value at about $850,000, and the company contributes about $17,000 annually to the city and the Chester-Upland School District in property taxes. It also pays a 6% sales tax to the city, and the 16 employees pay earned-income levies. The size of the workforce has not changed much through the years.

    Most of the building’s space, which includes a former stable for the horses that delivered the company’s goods in the wayback when Chester was transforming from a rural outpost to an industrial power, is devoted to warehousing. About 95% of the company’s business is shipped on McCall’s trucks, Witomski said, and the location has outstanding road access, close to I-95 and the Blue Route.

    When customers call during business hours, “a human being always answers the phone,” she said. “People are shocked when you say, ‘Hello,’ and they’re waiting for ‘press 1.’”

    Being a family business that has resisted corporate takeover has given McCall’s an edge with customers, said Witomski, who recalled playing hide-and-seek among the store’s galvanized trash cans as a kid.

    “Unlike almost all our competition, we haven’t sold out.”

    The original McCalls

    George McCall started his feed-and-grain business in 1876, when Chester’s population was growing rapidly. He eventually turned over the keys to his son Thomas, who later passed on the business to his sons under the name T. Frank McCall.

    A breakthrough came in the 1880s when nearby Scott Paper — on the Chester riverfront, the company that is believed to have been the first to market toilet paper on a roll and disposable paper towels — hired McCall’s as its distributor. (The plant now bears the Kimberly-Clark name, but the Scott brand name survives.)

    Along with Scott products, through the years it would sell and distribute a wide variety of janitorial and other products while remaining in the seed-and-grain business.

    The McCalls would run the company for 80 years.

    McCall’s today

    Owner Lisa Witomski (right) with her niece Lisa Claire, McCall’s office manager, and nephew Chas Wiley, warehouse manager, inside the store.

    They sold the company in 1957 at a time when Chester was entering a postwar decline: In the 1950s, the number of apparel and general merchandise stores in the city fell from 68 to 19, according to Chester Planning Commission documents.

    Brothers Edward and Charles Witomski purchased the business on the advice of a member of the legendary Pew family, founders of the Sun Oil empire. The brothers had owned a bar in Essington and were looking for an enterprise that would be more family-friendly, Lisa Witomski said.

    Like the McCalls, they continued the tradition of selling and distributing a wide variety of products, including paints and even baby chicks at Easter time. Eventually the business was passed on to Charles Witomski’s daughters, Marcie and Lisa, the company president. Marcie Witomski’s daughter, Lisa Claire, is the office manager; Marcie’s son Chas Wiley manages the warehouse.

    In recent years their regular customers have included casinos throughout the region that have needs for paper and enzyme cleaning products. (Gamblers have been known to make a mess.)

    And ice melter has been a source of considerable cold cash — this winter in particular.

    “It was a doozy,” Claire said. It wasn’t just the 30 inches of snow, but the subsequent Arctic freezes that locked in the snow-and-ice coverage. The result was the sale of mass quantities of calcium chloride melter.

    On occasion, a motorist along Madison Street, which is part of Route 320, stopped in to buy some melter, Lisa Witomski said, but the store never was heavily trafficked even when the neighborhood was well-occupied in the 1950s and ’60s.

    Save for a few incidents — one person tried to walk off with a lawn mower, another tried to make off with a 100-pound barrel that he couldn’t carry — crime has not been an issue, Lisa Witomski said, even when the city went through a period a decade ago when it had the nation’s highest per capita homicide rate.

    “We are not exactly in a populated area,” she said.

    Cars parked in front of the store these days are anomalies. “We think the two-hour parking is very funny,” she said.

    Said Michelle Cubler, the purchasing manager, “We’ve never seen them actually ticket on this street.”

  • Summer arrives officially Sunday in Philly, with El Niño, drought, and the moon as major players

    Summer arrives officially Sunday in Philly, with El Niño, drought, and the moon as major players

    Given the atmosphere’s impatience, it would be understandable if some folks believe that the summer of 2026 began weeks ago.

    But officially, the astronomical summer does not start until 4:24 a.m. Sunday, the instant of the solstice, when the sun beams its most direct light on the Tropic of Cancer. (That’s the one that bisects Mexico.)

    Perhaps the pleasant temperatures this weekend are an overdue solstice gift to the region.

    Officially, on 14 days this year, the temperature has reached at least 90 degrees at Philadelphia International Airport. While not a record — this happened 21 times before the 1991 summer solstice — that is a total more appropriate to midsummer. The annual average is about 30, and usually this kind of heat doesn’t get a jump start in mid-April.

    Is it going to get hot again?

    A woman walks past Swann Memorial Fountain as the sun rises last month.

    Are polar bears white?

    At least three veteran seasonal forecasters have commented that they expect the burgeoning El Niño event to work against punitive hot spells in the region.

    During El Niño, sea-surface temperatures remain above normal in the tropical Pacific for several months, agitating the overlying air and affecting weather across the globe. This one may be among the strongest and is forecast to mature during the summer, earlier than usual.

    During six early-developing strong El Niños, summer temperatures in Philadelphia were near or below average.

    However, the scientists at the government’s Climate Prediction Center evidently are not buying it. In both the July and the July 1-through Aug. 31 outlooks posted Thursday, they saw the odds favoring above-normal temperatures.

    On average Philly has a combined 20 days of 90-degree highs in July, when the Earth is the farthest it gets from the sun, and August. (Along with a September bonus of two more.)

    How come it’s warmer, if we’re farther from the sun?

    On average the Earth is about 93 million miles from the sun, but since its orbit is an imperfect circle the distance varies by roughly 3 million miles.

    At 1 p.m. on July 6 our planet will be 94.5 million miles from the sun, by EarthSky’s calculation, its farthest distance of the year. It makes its annual closest approach in January, which is why winter in the Northern Hemisphere is the shortest season; the gravitational bump speeds up the trip, and February gets shortened.

    The seasonal weather rhythms are about the Earth’s axial tilt, not distance from the sun, and the planet takes its time responding to the changes in solar energy. Just as January is colder than December on average, July is more than 5 degrees warmer in Philly than June on average. Just how warm it gets the rest of this summer may have a lot to do with how much drier it gets.

    Will the drought conditions ever end?

    They always have, but this has been quite an extraordinary run, even if the plant life has managed to avoid major distress.

    The entire region, save for extreme northeastern Bucks County, is in a state of “severe drought,” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with Cape May County in “extreme drought.”

    The promised rain to start the workweek should help, but Philadelphia has experienced 10 consecutive months of below-normal precipitation, a rarity in an area in such proximity to bodies of water that are sources of rainfall. All of New Jersey and Chester County remain under drought emergencies.

    Dryness can promote heating, since the sun does not have to divert energy evaporating water.

    However, unusual coolness also can accompany dryness, said Sarah Johnson, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly. Having lived in North Dakota for 20 years, she knows her dry air.

    A lack of moisture can be a boon for cooler nights. Water vapor in the air inhibits nighttime cooling by blocking heat from escaping into the atmosphere.

    It also happens that less vapor in the air is ideal for sky-watching, and that could come in handy in August.

    This could be a big year for the Perseids

    In this long exposure photo, a Perseid meteor streaks above Madrid.

    Last year, you may recall that the moon showed its big face during the peak of the annual Perseid meteor showers, the most popular of the year.

    This time around, the moon is getting out of the way, and will be in its “new” phase during the peak early mornings of Aug. 12 and 13.

    While the Geminids, which occur in December, are considered the most prolific showers of the year, according to the American Meteor Society, they are not as popular as the Perseids: People tend to prefer August nights to December’s.

    The Perseids are so named because the cometic detritus that is ignited by the atmosphere appears to radiate from the constellation Perseus. In the early-morning hours, that typically is low in the northern sky.

    Under ideal conditions — ultra-dark, light-pollution free skies — as many as 90 meteors an hour might be visible, EarthSky says.

    But the moon will be the star in late August

    Billy Penn waves at the moon during a lunar eclipse.

    Two weeks after the Perseid peak, Philadelphia and most of the rest of the Western Hemisphere will be treated to a lunar eclipse in which just about all of the moon will be in shadow.

    The show begins at 9:24 p.m. Aug. 28, and more than 90% of the moon will be obscured by Earth’s shadow three hours later. It will be all over around 4 a.m.

    Chances are excellent that the region will still be needing rain, but may it choose another night.

  • Philly has been seeing huge temperature swings within 24 hours. Here’s what’s going on.

    Philly has been seeing huge temperature swings within 24 hours. Here’s what’s going on.

    Like so many humans, perhaps the atmosphere is having issues adjusting to the time change. At the very least, it’s having trouble keeping track of the seasons.

    After making a run at 70 degrees on a stormy Monday, on Tuesday it will be welcome back to hats and gloves in Philly.

    Temperatures were forecast to fall to freezing by daybreak, which would be a drop of 35 to 40 degrees in less than 24 hours. In some years, that would rank among the biggest annual day-to-day temperature drops.

    But this comes less than a week after the official readings plummeted from 83 degrees, normal for mid-June, to 35 in 24 hours, one of the largest day-to-day temperature swings in Philly’s climate record.

    In official record-keeping dating to 1874 — covering more than 55,000 days — the Wednesday-to-Thursday shift would rank in the top 20 for day-to-day temperature tumbles, according to an Inquirer analysis.

    “It’s really remarkable,” said Eric Balaban, pulmonary and critical care fellow at the Temple Lung Center.

    He and other experts say that aside from what it may do to the morale of spring’s ardent fans, the thermal roller-coaster and the accompanying winds likely are having effects on health, particularly for people with respiratory cardiovascular conditions.

    And we probably should expect to see the dramatic swings to continue for a while, said Matt Benz, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.

    “I’d be surprised if we didn’t, given the pattern we’ve being going through,” Benz said.

    Why the temperature has been so jumpy lately in Philly

    Philadelphia and other areas in the mid-latitudes are prone to become battlegrounds this time of year between the stubborn winter and the impatient spring.

    March is notorious for temperature swings as cold air masses from the north encounter encroaching warmth and storms tend to form along the borders of the skirmishes.

    One reason the contrasts have been especially vigorous this year is the obvious. “After this hard winter, that’s to be expected,” said Ray Martin, a lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service. We haven’t had many of those lately.

    But that 48-degree drop last week belongs in an elite category. It ranked No. 18 among day-to-day temperature falls, based on the available records. The all-timer was the 57-degree drop from March 28 to 29 in 1921, with several 50-degree drops appearing in the record.

    Whenever they occur, the radical shifts can have health consequences, according to medical experts and a variety of studies.

    The possible health effects of rapid temperature changes

    The temperature changes typically are set off by potent fronts, such as the one that crashed through the region on Monday, and they generate powerful winds.

    By stirring particulate matter and transporting early tree pollens, the winds present a risk to those with respiratory conditions and allergies, said Manav N. Segal, with the Chestnut Hill Allergy & Asthma practice.

    “We are seeing an increase in call volume already because of patients’ spring allergy symptoms,” he said Monday. And conditions this week are just a prequel: The allergy season will pick up steam once the weather turns more consistently warmer and the allergy season intensifies, he said.

    Said Balaban, “People who have preexsiting conditions are simply at higher risk.”

    Rapid changes in temperature and levels of atmospheric moisture with frontal passages can irritate the airways and increase airway inflammation, said Joann Martin, nurse with Guardian Nurses Healthcare Advocates in Flourtown, Montgomery County. Studies have shown associations between temperature variability and increased asthma-related hospital visits.

    Changes in temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure — a measure of the weight of the air that falls as fronts approach and rises after they pass — are “recognized triggers for migraine and severe headaches.”

    In addition, “Sudden temperature shifts can affect blood pressure, vascular tone, and cardiac workload,” Martin said, increasing the changes for heart attacks and strokes.

    For most people, however, after a long winter, the temperature drops are a source of frustration over the delay of a much-anticipated spring.

    More temperature swings are likely in coming weeks in the Philly region

    For now, at least, it appears that the region’s cherry blossoms should be safe, even though temperatures Tuesday morning were expected to come close to freezing in Philly and may fall into the upper 20s Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

    Daytime highs won’t be much higher than 40 Tuesday and Wednesday, before a modest warmup begins.

    It likely would take a serious late-March or early-April freeze to damage the blossoms, said Sandi Polyakov, head gardener for the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia. He expects a bloom peak in early April.

    However, the temperature seesaw probably isn’t over, said AccuWeather’s Benz.

    “There’s still a lot of cold air left over in Canada,” he said, ”and a lot of warmth coming up from the Gulf.”

    He noted that Monday’s storm was dropping a healthy 20 to 30 inches of snow in the western Great Lakes.

    “Until we get out of that type of stuff,” he said, “the cold air doesn’t have to go very far to get here.”

  • Blizzard conditions were confirmed at the Jersey Shore and southern Delaware

    Blizzard conditions were confirmed at the Jersey Shore and southern Delaware

    Philadelphia and environs didn’t quite make the grade, but areas along the Jersey Shore and in southern Delaware did experience blizzard conditions early on the morning of Feb. 23, the National Weather Service reported Friday.

    Blizzard criteria — sustained winds or frequent gusts to 35 mph, with falling and/or blowing snow reducing visibility to less than a quarter mile for three or more continuous hours — were met along about a 20- to 25-mile-wide corridor in New Jersey from Monmouth to Cape May, said Alex Staarmann, a meteorologist in the Mount Holly office who was part of the investigative team.

    Those conditions also were observed in Sussex County, Del.

    In addition to direct instrument observations, Staarmann said, the weather service relied on available visual evidence from photographs and videos. “They’re an element of analysis as well,” he said.

    As for why Philadelphia came up short, Staarmann said “the visibility certainly was low enough at times, but the winds weren’t quite as strong as we were forecasting farther inland.”

    Among the locations where blizzard conditions were preliminarily confirmed were the extreme eastern portion of Burlington County, Atlantic City, Long Beach Island, and all the resort towns in Cape May County.

    The weather service had posted a blizzard warning for the entire state of New Jersey, all of Delaware, and for Philly, Delaware County, and nearby portions of Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties.

    However, conditions were not quite so extreme to the north and west of the city, nor were the snow totals quite so robust.

    Blizzard or not, by any other name it was a disruptive storm that generated 20 inches of snow in parts of the region, and 14 inches at Philadelphia International Airport, No. 16 on the all-time snow list that dates to the winter of 1884-85.

  • Clocks spring forward Sunday, but the sun may be setting on year-round daylight saving time

    Clocks spring forward Sunday, but the sun may be setting on year-round daylight saving time

    Coinciding with the expected behavior of the atmosphere over Philly, the clocks are taking a major leap into spring this weekend, this time around as early as it ever happens.

    On Sunday the clocks will skip right over 2 a.m. and proceed to 3 a.m. as daylight saving time begins and will continue through Nov. 1.

    The sun won’t set before 7 p.m. until Sept. 22.

    Congratulations to those who prefer eating dinner before dark or savoring an extra dose of daylight after work. If you dread being shorted an hour on a precious weekend and hold that DST actually stands for “delayed sunrise time,” we offer a modest consolation prize.

    The sun appears to be setting on the all-DST-all-the-time movement.

    Recall that the U.S. Senate unanimously (at least technically) passed the 2022 iteration of the Sunshine Protection Act that would have ditched the switch and installed daylight saving time as the year-round system. U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Pa.) said at the time “the idea definitely has legs,” and isn’t that what they said about the Eagles’ offense?

    It’s as if the campaign has gone back to bed.

    The 2022 bill’s sponsor, Marco Rubio, at the time a senator representing the Sunshine State, is now the secretary of state and appears to have bigger fish to fry. His immediate supervisor, President Donald Trump, who at different times advocated for year-round standard and year-round DST, has lost interest.

    So, evidently, have legions of state lawmakers around the country.

    The number of bills calling for year-round daylight saving time has dropped dramatically, and this year they are far outnumbered by bills advocating year-round standard time, based on a survey of data compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

    That said, the discussion may never die. The Sunshine Protection Act was reintroduced in the Senate last year. Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) says he’s giving it another shot. But expect 100% chance that clocks go back in the fall; the bill remains in committee.

    Daylight saving time advocates have pointed to the recreational and other benefits of later sunsets, and those will become ever more evident during the next several weeks. Conversely, any number of health organizations warn of the dangers caused by sleep disruption, exacerbated by a certain longitudinal inequity.

    To honor a day that so many look forward to, and so many others dread, we offer a few numbers for consideration, starting with a visit to Marquette, Mich.

    79: Minutes of difference in sunrise times

    Sunrise Monday in Marquette doesn’t occur until 8:11 a.m., compared with 6:52 a.m. in Lubec, Maine. That is a 79-minute difference — in the same time zone. Lubec is on the shores of the Atlantic. Marquette is on the shores of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

    In Marquette, the sun’s reluctance to get out of bed may be understandable. The city already has had close to 210 inches of snow (about 10 Philly winters’ worth) this season. “Even by our standards, this has been a pretty remarkable winter,” said Chris Burling, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Marquette.

    As with the snow, the locals appear to accept the late sunrises with a measure of equanimity. “I think there’s some grumbling for a couple days,” said Burling, “but otherwise, it’s just …that’s how it is.”

    Sleep experts advise that people in the westerly longitudes of time zones stand to suffer more than their counterparts to the east. In Marquette, twilight won’t end until close to 10:30 p.m. around the summer solstice. That can be disruptive to bodily sleep rhythms, experts say, by depriving bodies of melatonin, the sleep hormone that the body produces in the dark.

    The Michigan legislature is among those that have considered a bill for year-round standard time. Federal law permits states to go all-standard, but all-daylight saving time would require Congress to pass a law to allow it.

    800: Pro-daylight saving time bills

    Eight hundred bills have been introduced in state legislatures since 2005 to enact year-round daylight saving time, according to Tom Klein, policy associate with the legislatures conference.

    93: Time-change bills in 2025

    There were 93 bills introduced in 2025 in favor of either year-round Daylight Saving Time or standard time.

    35: States

    Thirty-five states considered such bills in 2025, about evenly split between all-DST and all-standard, by the conference’s count.

    21: Bills this year

    In 2026, 21 bills are under consideration, with 16 calling for year-round standard time and five favoring all-Daylight Saving Time.

    1,454: Days

    It’s been 1,454 days since the U.S. Senate approved the Sunshine Protection Act.

    294: Days

    The nation’s last experiment with year-round daylight saving time, in 1974, survived only 294 days,

    238: Days

    Just 238 days until we fall backward again. Incidentally, since Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March, this is the earliest it could happen. Nov. 1 is the earliest possible starting date for standard time.

    Innumerable

    Projected number of days before the clock-switch debate ends.

  • After an actual winter in the Philly region, plant life may see the impacts

    After an actual winter in the Philly region, plant life may see the impacts

    Temperatures in the Philly region may not visit freezing again until the end of next week, with a run of 70-degree days possible in the interim. And after some substantial winter napping, the region’s plant life is going to notice.

    Horticulturalists offered a variety of perspectives on what effects the surprisingly enduring snow and ice snow cover and Arctic freezes have had on the regional flora and what may be ahead.

    They allow that while it wasn’t exactly a vacation, spending five weeks and change under a glacier and snowpacks hasn’t been all bad for the plant life.

    But as the great thaw accelerates, they have cautionary words for home gardeners: Watch your step.

    And meteorologists warn that if you expect the thaw to be linear, you clearly have wandered into the wrong part of the country. Winter and spring are still in a nasty turf war that can turn ugly in March in the Northeast.

    Five weeks under the covers had benefits for Philly’s plant life

    Officially, Philadelphia has logged 36 days of snow cover of at least one inch, including 23 consecutive days after the Jan. 25 snow-and-ice fest. The timing of that snowpack was fortuitous in that it “insulated the ground, protecting perennials, grasses, and marginally hardy bulbs” from the Arctic freezes that followed, said Lisa Roper, horticulturalist at Chanticleer Garden in Wayne.

    Horticulturist Lisa Roper tends to echinacea Tennesseensis at the Gravel Garden at Chanticleer in this file photo. She says the snow offered a measure of protection for the plants.

    Said Sky Deswert, garden educator with the Norris Square Neighborhood Project in Philly, “Without the snow, there is a greater risk that dormant plants and roots will suffer from the cold.”

    The snow was beneficial “to things like blue hydrangeas, insulating the stems from the cold,” said Bill Cullina, executive director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum & Gardens in Chestnut Hill.

    Overall, said Roger Davis, a landscape manager at Longwood Gardens in Chester County, “Snow cover does not typically cause any problems for most plants in our home gardens.”

    Unfortunately, it also typically doesn’t cause problems for voles, those plant-nibbling so-called field mice that evidently had a field day.

    But the winter also offered significant challenges

    “Voles have been active underground, eating roots and even the crowns of grasses and perennials,” said Cullina. Snow has given voles ideal cover from an impressive lists of predators, including owls, foxes, raccoons, and cats.

    They can kill shrubs and small trees by chewing at ground level, said Chanticleer’s Roper.

    Deer also have been nuisances. “Heavy snow cover makes it difficult for deer to find food,” she said. “The deer will start to eat plants they typically leave alone.”

    At Morris Arboretum, Cullina said, “They have been browsing needled evergreens that they normally ignore.”

    Bill Cullina shown here in this file photo in front of a a red oak tree at the Morris Arboretum. Beware of “mud time,” he advises.

    He added that frost-heaving, in which soil expands and contracts with fluctuating temperatures, is back after taking off much of this century. “This can force recently planted perennials and even shrubs as well as bulbs out of the ground.”

    Said Roper, “Keep your eye out for plants pushed out of the ground; you can stick them back in if you see them.”

    Some of the broad-leaved evergreens, such as rhododendron and hollies, may have suffered from “the combined effects of sun reflecting off the snow and frozen ground that prevents water uptake,” said Cullina. That can lead to leaf burn and defoliation.

    “Not much you can do at this point except wait until the plants leaf out …and then prune off any dead branches,” he said.

    Shrubs planted near the eaves of houses may have suffered from another hazard — rooftop snow, said Theresa Smith, senior vice president of NaturLawn, a national lawn service company with several outlets in the region. “When you have snow falling off in heavy pieces, it’s definitely going to damage some of those softer plants.”

    And beware of salt damage on lawns, particularly near well-salted roads and driveways, said Smith. Salt can dehydrate vegetation. She also warned that prolonged snow cover can yield bumper crops of “snow mold,” a fungus that thrives in cold, moist conditions.

    If you see those unsightly straw-colored mold patches, rake them out and put down grass seed on the bare spots, Roper said.

    ‘Mud season’ has arrived in Philly. Watch where you step.

    The ground has assumed a certain spongelike quality now that most of the snow is melted, and it’s going to take some time to wring out the sponge.

    Cullina said that reminiscent of his native Maine, it “feels like Philly is getting a little taste of mud season this year.”

    Smith strongly advises gardeners to keep off the mud as much as possible. “You don’t want to add to the compaction that’s already there,” she said.

    The tighter the soil gets, said Longwood’s Davis, the more it reduces the air spaces. “Foot traffic has more effect on wet soil than you might think.”

    And beware the moods of March

    Smith cautions against yielding to an agricultural spring fever, despite the promising temperature forecast for the next several days. Starting Sunday, the high temperatures could reach 70 degrees on four or five days, said Bob Larsen, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.

    Smith votes for harnessing planting ambitions during March, a notorious transitional month when the aggressive warm air masses clash with the retreating winter.

    Her birthday is in March, and she recalls receiving snow as a not necessarily welcome birthday present more than once.

    Philadelphia’s last verified blizzard occurred in March, in 1993; in 1958 over 50 inches of snow fell upon Morgantown, Chester County, during the so-called equinox storm, and 20 inches fell in Philly on April 1, 1915.

    Our coverage of the 1958 Equinox Storm.

    “Home gardeners just need to relax a little bit,” she said, “and wait for the weather patterns to become more consistent.”

  • Snow and ice are expected Tuesday in Philly, but a warm-up is on the way

    Snow and ice are expected Tuesday in Philly, but a warm-up is on the way

    The remnants of winter are about to go on spring break — or at least yield to a “dirty warm-up” — but they evidently are going to take a messy parting shot at the region Tuesday morning.

    The National Weather Service has posted a winter weather advisory effective at 5 a.m. until 11 a.m. for the entire region for a mix of snow (not much) and ice beginning around daybreak before flipping to just plain rain.

    The precipitation is expected to start around daybreak as snow that won’t be plowable, or maybe even visible, but the more significant threat would be a glaze of freezing rain, said Nick Guzzo a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly.

    At most, snow would accumulate a few tenths of an inch, he said, transitioning to freezing rain and just plain liquid rain throughout the region before the morning is over.

    But coinciding with the peak morning commuting period, the timing is a concern, he added.

    Temperatures are due to be near freezing when the precipitation gets underway but climb into the mid-30s by midmorning. The March sun should make quick work of melting anything that freezes on the roadways.

    Then the temperature might not drop below freezing for the next 10 days, and make it to 70 degrees Sunday.

    But don’t expect it to be “bright and beautiful,” said Bob Larsen, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.

    A major pattern change is underway across the nation

    “It’s what we like to refer to as a ‘dirty warm-up,’” said Larsen. Here’s the dirt: It is due to be cloudy at least through Friday with rain possible Thursday and Friday and highs in 50s. Normal highs are in the upper 40s.

    The sun is due back Saturday with readings in the 60s, and perhaps into the 70s on Sunday, but with another chance of rain. Larsen said at least two days, and maybe four, next week are expected to feature highs in the 70s, before a cool down perhaps next Thursday or Friday.

    The surges of mild air are related to a major pattern change in the upper atmosphere. For the last several weeks, the atmosphere has aligned to favor cold, snow, and ice in the East and springlike temperatures in West.

    That’s about to reverse, as the West gets its turn with winter and the East gets a spring tease.

    But don’t put in the screens just yet, Larsen advises.

    “March can be a cruel month,” he said, and winter isn’t prone to go gently. “We’re not going to slam door on it yet.”

    He that some signs are pointing to a more-wintry end to the month, which would not be at all unusual.

    “In my mind there’s only two seasons, summer and winter,” Larsen said, and spring and fall are when they fight their turf wars.