6:00 AM | ****Blizzard watch for tomorrow afternoon through Saturday night****
Paul Dorian
6-Day DC Forecast
Today
Mostly sunny, cold, highs in the low-to-mid 30’s
Tonight
Partly cloudy, cold, lows near 20 degrees
Friday and Saturday
Blizzard from Friday afternoon into late Saturday night (see discussion for more details)
Sunday
Early clouds and possible lingering snow to give way to clearing skies, windy, cold, low-to-mid 30’s
Monday
Partly sunny, cold, upper 30’s
Tuesday
Partly sunny, cold, near 40 degrees
Discussion
Confidence continues to grow for a major - and perhaps widespread crippling storm - for the Mid-Atlantic region from later Friday into early Sunday morning. Starting time for the snow in DC area is 2-6PM Friday afternoon. The DC National Weather Service has already posted a blizzard watch for the DC and Baltimore metro regions for Friday afternoon into Saturday night. The NYC NWS has now posted a blizzard watch for the 5 boroughs of NYC and Long Island for Saturday into Sunday afternoon - Philly NWS should follow suit. Computer forecast models continue to show an incredible storm for the I-95 corridor. It looks like it'll be a high-impact and long-lasting storm that has the potential to dump 18-25 inches of snow on the DC metro region. It is quite likely that somewhere in the Mid-Atlantic region there will be 30+ inches of snow accumulation from this upcoming system by the time early Sunday morning rolls around. In fact, most recent model runs suggests 30+ inches are possible in and around the DC metro region. This storm is likely to include some serious blowing and drifting, coastal flooding and beach erosion given the sustained strong NE winds and full moon, and perhaps even some thunder snow and lightning. Wind gusts could reach 70 mph at coastal locations by later Saturday and 50 mph at inland areas near I-95. There is a chance for a "changeover to" or a "mixing with" rain and/or sleet for awhile during this storm; primarily, to the south and east of the big cities. One other note, given the expected long-period of strong winds and the possible mixture in some areas of snow and rain, power outages are a concern as the weight may be too much for some tree limbs. Stay tuned for updates, prepare – looks like this could be one of the all-time greats.