7:00 AM | Very cold air moves in today with teens likely overnight; snow on Saturday changes to a wintry mix or rain

6-Day Forecast

Today

Mostly cloudy early today and then mostly sunny, becoming breezy and remaining quite cold, highs only reaching near 30 degrees(normal high at DCA is 49 degrees)

Tonight

Mostly clear, bitter cold, lows in the mid-to-upper teens in many suburban locations

Friday

Increasing clouds, cold, mid-to-upper 30’s

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy, cold, mid-to-upper 20’s

Saturday

Cloudy, cold, snow likely at first then changing to a wintry mix or rain, upper 30’s

Sunday

Mostly cloudy, cold, upper 30’s

Monday

Partly sunny, windy, cold, low 30's

Tuesday

Partly sunny, windy, cold, near 40

Discussion

Cloudy skies this morning signal the arrival of another Arctic air mass that will send temperatures way down into the teens by late tonight. Clouds will thicken up later Friday and then moisture will slide into the region on Saturday from the Midwest and Deep South. It should be cold enough at the start of this next event for snow, but then enough milder air should move in to change the precipitation to a wintry mix or rain by Saturday night which would then wind down by early Sunday. If it does indeed snow on Saturday then that would be the third time in six days which does not happen often around here; especially, this early in the winter season. Preliminary snowfall estimates for this upcoming event: 1-2 inches in the suburbs with slightly lesser amounts in the District and points south and east of there. Another cold air mass will follow the weekend system for the early part of next week. Looking ahead, there are signs that the cold pattern will continue through December and some extremely cold air is possible during Christmas week in much of the country...not sure at this point if that will include the East or if it would be confined to the heartland and still on its way here.

Video

httpv://youtu.be/7rFJY3m4N54