7:00 AM | ***An icy mess in the DC metro region from later tonight into early Thursday...watch for slick spots...plain rain in the afternoon and evening***

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

Today

Sunshine gives way to increasing clouds, cold, highs not far from 40 degrees; N-NW around 5 mph

Tonight

Mainly cloudy, cold, freezing rain possibly mixed with sleet arrives near or shortly after midnight, a small buildup of ice is possible late, watch for slick spots late tonight, lows not far from 30 degrees

Thursday

Mainly cloudy, cold, freezing rain transitions to plain rain by later in the morning and continues as plain rain in the afternoon, some of the PM rain can get heavy at times, increasingly windy, lower 40’s for late afternoon highs

Thursday Night             

Mainly cloudy, chilly, still windy, periods of rain in the evening, mid-to-upper 30’s for late night lows  

Friday

Becoming mainly sunny, breezy, cold, near 45 degrees

Saturday

Mainly sunny, cold, lower 40’s

Sunday

Mainly sunny, a bit colder, mid-to-upper 30’s

Monday

Mainly sunny, cold, near 40 degrees

Discussion              

An icy mess will develop across the DC metro region later tonight and last into the mid-to-late morning hours on Thursday. Freezing rain possibly mixed with sleet will move from southwest-to-northeast and arrive in the DC metro region between 11PM and 3AM. The movement of the precipitation means it will begin first in places like Culpeper and Chantilly in Virginia and last in places like Laurel and Columbia in Maryland. Small accumulations of ice are likely late tonight and early Thursday morning; especially, in the normally colder far northern and western suburbs…watch out for slick spots…the ground has been cold lately.

Low pressure will form over the Carolinas on Thursday and then intensify as it moves near or over the Delmarva Peninsula tomorrow night to a position just off Long Island by mid-day Friday. As the developing storm intensifies near the Delmarva Peninsula later tomorrow, easterly winds will increase here and pump in milder maritime air causing a changeover of the precipitation to plain rain. The rain can get quite heavy later tomorrow and winds will be quite strong off the ocean. The rain winds down later tomorrow night and it turns gradually colder this weekend.

Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield Weather