6:00 AM |***The Arctic winds will howl today and tonight...snow showers are possible...snow-to-ice-to-rain later tomorrow night and Saturday***
Paul Dorian
6-Day DC Forecast
Today
Windy and very cold with partial sunshine, a couple of snow showers are possible, gusts up to 45 mph will generate bitter cold wind chills, highs in the mid 20’s
Tonight
Partly cloudy, bitter cold, windy with gusts up to 40 mph creating wind chill values near zero, maybe a snow shower, lows near 15 degrees by morning
Friday
Bitter cold start to the day with mostly sunny skies early and clouds late, winds are brisk early, but quite calm by afternoon, mid-to-upper 20’s
Friday Night
Cloudy, quite cold, snow likely to develop during the late evening hours and continue after midnight, sleet should mix in towards morning, there can be snow accumulations before any changeover on the order of a coating to a couple of inches, low-to-mid 20’s
Saturday
Cloudy, cold, an early wintry mix of freezing rain and sleet changes to plain rain by mid-day, temperatures climb twards 50 degrees later in the day
Sunday
Cloudy, mild, but turning colder late in the day, more rain is likely which can briefly change back to snow or sleet late in the day or early at night, near 50 degrees early
Monday
Partly sunny, breezy, quite cold, maybe a snow shower, low 30’s
Tuesday
Partly sunny, quite cold, maybe a snow shower, low-to-mid 30’s
Discussion
The Arctic winds will howl today and tonight bringing wind chill values to zero or below at times in much of the I-95 corridor. Actual air temperatures will be confined to the 20’s for highs and there can be isolated snow shower activity at just about anytime. Temperatures will likely bottom out early Friday morning in the upper single digits near New York City, not far from 10 degrees in the Philly N and W suburbs, and around 15 degrees in the DC area. In fact, some record low temperatures are likely to fall on Friday in much of the Northeast US. This bitter cold, dense Arctic air mass will then begin to retreat by early Saturday, but not before moisture reaches us from the Midwest and this potential collision of moisture and retreating Arctic air is likely to lead to some snow/ice accumulations in the region before a complete changeover to plain rain takes place around mid-day. Preliminary estimates for accumulations of snow/ice before the changeover to rain are on the order of a coating to a couple of inches with the higher amounts to the north and west. Temperatures could very well then climb to 50 degrees later Saturday after the full retreat of the low-level Arctic air and more rain is likely during the afternoon hours.
The rain will tend to lighten up for awhile during Saturday night, but then it should return on Sunday as a low pressure system develops along the next Arctic front which will approach from the Midwest. Temperatures may actually peak early Sunday in the mid-to-upper 40's, but then colder Arctic air will filter in during the late afternoon/early evening hours and it is possible that there is a brief changeover from rain to sleet and snow in the N and W suburbs. Following the passage of this next Arctic frontal system, the beginning of next week promises to very cold for the middle of December.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Vencore, Inc.
vencoreweather.com