7:00 AM | *An unsettled Friday/Friday night with rain showers likely during the day that may be with mixed flakes at times...rain and/or snow showers tonight*
Paul Dorian
6-Day forecast for the Washington, D.C. metro region
Today
Mainly cloudy, breezy, cold, occasional rain showers, maybe even a thunderstorm, flakes can mix in later in the day, highs in the mid-to-upper 40’s
Tonight
Mainly cloudy, cold, occasional rain and/or snow showers, small grassy snow accumulations are possible in the far northern suburbs, lows in the lower 30’s
Saturday
Partly sunny, quite breezy, cold, mid-to-upper 40’s for afternoon highs
Saturday Night
Mainly clear, little wind, cold, upper 20’s for late night lows
Sunday
Mainly sunny, milder, upper 50’s
Monday
Mainly sunny, warmer, mid-to-upper 60’s
Tuesday
Mainly cloudy, still warm, chance of showers, mid 60’s
Wednesday
Partly sunny, mild, chance of showers, near 60 degrees
Discussion
A strong “clipper” system will drop southeastward into the Mid-Atlantic region today and it’ll feature some rather cold air in the upper part of the atmosphere. At the same time, the southern storm that soaked the southern states in recent days will intensify after it moves out over the open waters of the western Atlantic. In fact, this storm could intensify to a point where it is produces hurricane-force winds by tonight in the western Atlantic. While this ocean storm will be situated well off the east coast, it’ll still have an influence in the Mid-Atlantic region as an inverted trough (aka “norlun” trough) will extend from the low pressure center all the way back to the Mid-Atlantic. The combination of the “clipper” system and the inverted trough associated with the ocean storm is going to lead to rain showers today in the DC metro region and rain and/or snow showers tonight. In some “norlun” trough scenarios, small-scale heavier bands of precipitation can form and we’ll have to closely monitor that possibility late today and tonight; especially, in areas like the Delmarva Peninsula. Following today’s mess, the weekend will start off on the chilly and dry side in the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor, but a major warm up will take place early next week. In fact, the weather on Monday should feature sunshine and warmth with temperatures well up in the 60’s for afternoon highs.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Perspecta, Inc.
perspectaweather.com