7:00 AM | **Arctic blast takes hold next couple of days...late week/early weekend intense ocean storm**

6-Day forecast for the Washington, D.C. metro region

Today

Mainly sunny, quite cold, breezy, highs near 30 degrees; W-NW winds at 10-15 mph

Tonight

Mainly clear, very cold, lows not far from 15 degrees

Thursday

Mainly sunny, still quite cold, lower 30’s for afternoon highs

Thursday Night             

Increasing clouds, quite cold, low-to-mid 20’s for late night lows           

Friday

Becoming mainly cloudy, cold, chance of snow in the afternoon and at night, mid 30’s

Saturday

Mainly cloudy, cold, windy, chance of snow early, near 30 degrees

Sunday

Partly sunny, breezy, quite cold, lower 30’s

Monday

Mainly sunny, cold, mid 30’s

Discussion              

An Arctic air mass has pushed into the Mid-Atlantic region and the next couple of days will feature well below-normal temperatures for the latter part of January.  The core of the coldest air will be in place late tonight and late night temperatures lows will likely drop to the middle teens in much of the region.  Low pressure will form near the southeastern US coastline on Friday and enter a rapid intensification phase as it moves to the northeast at week’s end.  Snow is likely to break out here later Friday and continue into Saturday from what is looking increasingly likely to be an unfolding intense ocean storm with wide-ranging impacts. It is still a bit too early to determine the ultimate storm track and exactly when the explosive intensification will take place, but all residents in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US should continue to closely monitor this unfolding situation.

Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield Weather