Eagles-Falcons forecast takes a chilling turn

The forecast trends for Saturday's playoff game between the Eagles and Atlanta Falcons now suggest that fans would be wise to bundle up (we predict some won't) and that wind is going to be a factor.

The updated National Weather Service hourly forecast has temperatures at Lincoln Financial Field falling into the mid-20s by the time the game is over.

Winds will be blowing out of the northwest at a steady, brisk 15 mph, and out of the north — end zone to end zone — in the second half.  That would produce wind chills in the teens.

>> READ MORE: Complete coverage previewing the Eagles-Falcons game

This forecast might well change subtly, as it has been doing, but the computer models the last few days have trended toward colder solutions.

In the meantime, the official temperature at Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday cracked 50 for the first time since Dec. 23, reaching 58 just before 4 p.m. The snow is executing a vanishing act.

On Friday temperatures will soar into the 60s as the region is expected to receive its most generous rainfall — 1 to 2 inches — since November.

The seasonal snow total, 12.7 inches at the airport, is more than double the normal for the date.

But from Dec. 1 through Thursday, only 1.62 inches of precipitation has fallen in Philadelphia, about a third of normal. More than half of that has landed in the form of snow; typically snow constitutes only 10 to 20 of wintry precipitation around here.

The U.S. Drought Monitor now has Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania collar counties in its "abnormally dry" zone, and most of eastern Pennsylvania in "moderate drought."

The warmth will be short-lived, and Saturday's forecast high in the 50s would occur right after midnight.

It appears that temperatures will be crashing into the 20s during the game.