Fox 29 Thinks It Already Knows How Much Snow Philly Will Get This Winter
Plus, Philly exports one of its worst cheesesteaks to Baltimore.

Snow at the Philadelphia Art Museum during the winter of 2023-2024 (Getty Images)
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Fox 29 Thinks It Already Knows How Much Snow Philly Will Get This Winter
While most of us are thinking more about the wrath that Hurricane Melissa is unleashing and will continue to unleash on the Caribbean – and while we are still in October, for goodness’ sake – our meteorologist friends over at Fox 29 just released their winter weather forecast for this season. In it, they talk through a lot of mumbo jumbo while you sit there and wait for the only stat you really care about, a stat they can’t possibly predict with any accuracy: How much snow Philly will get this season.
Should you have masochistic tendencies, you can watch the whole thing here. Otherwise, I can tell you that the Fox 29 team predicts that we will see (drum roll, if you please) 17 inches of snow in Philadelphia this winter. That’s less than the average snowfall in Philadelphia, which is 20 to 22 inches, depending on the source. Interestingly, 17 inches of snow is exactly what Fox 29 forecasted for last winter in Philadelphia. And how much snow did we get? A whopping 8.1 inches.
Just for laughs, I punched the range of 1 to 30 in a random number generator and got 23. We’ll see who is closer once spring comes.
Sorry, Baltimore
Geno’s Steaks has announced that it’s bringing its mediocre-at-best cheesesteaks to Baltimore. It could be worse, Charm City: You could get a Dalessandro’s, the shop that proves why “best of” lists shouldn’t be left to democracy and internet voting.
Sorry, Philadelphia
TV loudmouth Jon Taffer is threatening to bring his franchised Taffer’s Tavern concept to Philadelphia.
By the Numbers
35 percent: Increase in mail-in ballots requested by registered Republicans in Pennsylvania in this election cycle compared to the correlating cycle in 2021. I guess not all Republicans think that mail-in ballots are evil?
2,509: Signatories on a Change.org petition urging Philadelphia defense lawyer Shaka Johnson to withdraw from his representation of Keon King, the man charged with kidnapping and murdering Kada Scott. The premise of the petition is that the involvement of a “respected Black attorney” like Johnson in this case “sends a chilling message to the Black community that even those who claim to fight for justice are willing to defend known abusers – even those responsible for harming and killing Black women.” Johnson’s response? “N-O.”
1 day: Amount of time it took storied Eagles security guy Big Dom to show up at the hospital with pizza and cheesesteaks for Giants Cam Skattebo, who suffered that awful injury during Sunday’s game. Because this is Philly, lots of people want to know where he got the cheesesteaks and pizza, but the best investigative journalists in town haven’t been able to get these answers yet.
Local Talent
What eccentric Center City jeweler has seen his works on the bodies of such celebrities as Stevie Nicks and Elton John and is the guy behind what is one of the longest-running Halloween parties in the world? If you’re answer is this guy, you’re correct!