7:00 AM | ***Heavy rain, strong winds later Thursday/Thursday night...much colder air moves in on Friday***
Paul Dorian
6-Day forecast for the Washington, D.C. metro region
Today
Clouds early and then becoming mainly sunny, windy, cold, highs in the mid-to-upper 40’s
Tonight
Mainly clear, cold, diminishing winds, lows in the upper 20’s
Wednesday
Mainly sunny, chilly, mid-to-upper 40’s for highs
Wednesday Night
Becoming mainly cloudy, cold, a shower possible towards daybreak, upper 30’s for late night lows
Thursday
Mainly cloudy, becoming very windy and much milder, periods of rain primarily in the afternoon hours, some of the rain will be heavy later in the day and at night, a thunderstorm is possible, near 60 degrees; watch for localized flooding at night in poor drainage areas
Friday
Windy and colder, becoming partly sunny after early clouds chance of snow showers, lower 30’s
Saturday
Mainly sunny, very cold, lower 30’s
Sunday
Mainly sunny, still quite cold, near 40 degrees
Discussion
The main weather event this week will be the passage of a strong cold front late Thursday night that will usher in a cold air mass for Christmas Day (Friday). This strong front will be preceded by heavy rain from later Thursday into Thursday night and it’ll turn quite mild on Christmas Eve with late day temperatures flirting with the 60 degree mark in the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor. Winds will become an important factor as well later on Thursday and Thursday night with gusts past 40 mph possible and there can be a thunderstorm mixed in. On the backside of the front, temperatures will drop quickly early Friday, any standing water will freeze, and there can be a brief period of snow and/or sleet after the heavy rain event. The much colder air that arrives on Friday will stick around into the upcoming weekend and temperatures on Saturday will struggle to pass the freezing mark for highs.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Perspecta, Inc.
perspectaweather.com