7:00 AM | *An Arctic blast arrives on Saturday night following two warm days*
Paul Dorian
6-Day DC Forecast
Today
Mainly sunny, quite warm for this time of year, highs in the upper 60’s
Tonight
Mainly clear, chilly, patchy fog possible late, lows not far from 45 degrees
Saturday
Sun followed by clouds, still warm and becoming quite breezy, chance for a few showers in the afternoon, mid-to-upper 60’s
Saturday Night
Mainly cloudy, windy and turning colder, a few rain and/or snow showers are possible, lows in the mid 30’s
Sunday
Windy and cold with a mix of clouds than sun, a couple of rain and/or snow showers are possible, winds could gust past 40 mph, mid-to-upper 40’s
Monday
Still brisk and cold with mainly sunny skies, mid 40’s
Tuesday
Mainly sunny, still on the chilly side, near 50 degrees
Wednesday
Partly sunny, not as chilly, chance for showers late in the day or at night, low-to-mid 50's
Discussion
Today and Saturday will feature well above normal temperatures in the I-95 corridor, but all of that will change by Sunday with the passage of a strong cold frontal system. This front will blast through the region late Saturday – perhaps accompanied by rain shower activity - and it will usher in the first true blast of Arctic air this season. As the Arctic air flows over the still relatively warm water temperatures of the Great Lakes this weekend, it will generate the first widespread Great Lakes effect snows of the season for those places just downstream; especially, in higher elevation locations. In fact, given the vast difference in temperatures expected this weekend between the warm water and cold Arctic air, thundersnows could develop explosively resulting in substantial snowfall in some places just downstream. Snow showers could even push into areas east of the mountains later this weekend and reach all the way into the immediate I-95 corridor. Winds on Sunday could gust past 40 mph out of the northwest and temperatures should be confined to the 40’s along with the aforementioned chance of snow showers. It stays quite cold on Monday and Tuesday before a slight warm-up arrives at mid-week. Unfortunately, that mid-week slight warm up will likely be accompanied by a storm system traveling northeast from the Midwest and rain showers are possible here in the Wednesday/Thursday time frame.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Vencore, Inc.
vencoreweather.com