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The next nor'easter: What you need to know

Current forecasts put total snowfall at one to three inches, but that's still a cause for concern.

A woman’s umbrella is caught by strong winds along Market Street in Center City on Friday, March 2, 2018.
A woman’s umbrella is caught by strong winds along Market Street in Center City on Friday, March 2, 2018.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer

If the latest forecasts hold, the first day of spring – Tuesday – could look more like winter.

Another nor'easter is headed for the region, the fourth this month.

According to the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, there is a likelihood of rain and snow from Monday night through Wednesday morning. For now, at least, total predicted snowfall amounts are nothing to get alarmed about: one to three inches.

There is a 30 percent chance of precipitation Monday night, increasing to 70 percent Tuesday, according to NWS meteorologist Chad Shafer. Snow is more likely Tuesday morning, with rain more probable in the afternoon, he said. Current projections don't point to continuous rain or snow, but rather a break around Tuesday evening with the storm kicking up again late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Winds might not be as strong as they were for the first nor'easter of the month, when the region experienced widespread power outages. Gusts during that storm hit roughly 60 mph. The current forecast is calling for winds Tuesday in  the 10- to 20-mph range, with some as high as 25 mph, Shafer said. At worst, this could mean shaking branches and trouble controlling umbrellas.

Even so, concern remains that the region might be more "vulnerable to snow and wind because we've had so much infrastructural damage," Shafer said.

The storm could overlap with the 60th anniversary of a historic "Equinox" nor'easter, which brought a blizzard to the region in 1958. Just over 11 inches of snow was recorded at Philadelphia International Airport; a Pennsylvania record of 50 inches fell in Morgantown, Chester County.

Although projections for this week's storm are far tamer, Shafer cautioned that forecasts could change.