7:00 AM | ***Snow or a wintry mix arrives early-to-mid afternoon on Sat. before transitioning to rain...heavy rain Sat. night...a brief change back to ice and/or snow on Sun....then brutal cold***

6-Day DC Forecast

Today

Clouds will give way to partly sunny skies, it’ll turn milder in the afternoon with highs in the low-to-mid 40's

Tonight

Partly cloudy and cold, lows in the upper 20’s

Saturday

Becoming cloudy, cold, snow or a wintry mix is likely to develop in the early-to-mid afternoon and there can be a small accumulation before a possible late day changeover to rain, mid-to-upper 30’s for afternoon highs

Saturday Night

Periods of rain, heavy at times, the rain can freeze on some surfaces in the northern and western suburbs into the overnight hours, lower 30’s for lows

Sunday

Rain or a wintry mix likely to change to snow before the precipitation winds down, becoming windy, temperatures early in the mid 30's, but will drop sharply later in the day

Monday

Bitter cold with mainly sunny skies, temperatures likely to be held to near 20 degrees for highs and a brisk NW wind will generate even lower wind chill values (easily the coldest day of the year so far)

Tuesday

Mainly sunny, blustery, still very cold, lower 30’s

Wednesday

Mainly cloudy, cold, chance of rain and/or snow, low-to-mid 40’s

Discussion

A significant winter storm will impact the region from Saturday afternoon into Sunday with possible snow, mixed precipitation, and heavy rain. Snow or a wintry mix should develop during the early-to-mid afternoon hours on Saturday before transitioning to rain by day's end. There can be small accumulations of snow and ice before the changeover on the order of a coating to an inch or two. Rain will continue tomorrow night, possibly heavy at times, and there can continue to be some freezing on surfaces into the overnight hours across the northern and western suburbs. On the backside of the storm, much colder air will pour into the region on Sunday and the rain or wintry mix early in the day can change to snow before the precipitation winds down with minor small accumulations possible. As the Arctic air floods the region later Sunday, N-NW winds will intensify, temperatures will plunge, and any wet or slushy surfaces will quickly ice-up. The plummet in temperatures will continue on Sunday night and overnight lows will likely be in the single digits come early Monday – easily the coldest day of the year so far - and afternoon temperatures will struggle to make it through the teens.

Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Perspecta, Inc.
perspectaweather.com