7:00 AM | ****Soaking rain event until early Friday...Arctic blast arrives on Friday morning...plunging temperatures, strong wind gusts, "flash-freeze" and a burst of snow****

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

Today

Mainly cloudy, increasingly windy and turning milder, occasional rain that can continue as a wintry mix into mid-morning in some of the far northern and western suburbs, some of the rain later in the day can be heavy at times, highs in the mid-to-upper 40’s; E-NE winds increasing to 10-20 mph 

Tonight

Rainy and windy with gusts possible to 40 mph, maybe a thunderstorm, some of the rain can be heavy, watch for localized flooding, lows late tonight in the 30’s

Friday

Mainly cloudy with additional rainfall early in the day, maybe even an early day thunderstorm…a powerful Arctic front blasts through the region during the morning and temperatures will crash – perhaps by more than thirty degrees, watch out for a quick freeze-up on roadways and a burst of snow can produce a quick coating to an inch or two, very windy all day with gusts possible to 50 mph

Friday Night             

Partly cloudy, very windy, frigid cold with upper single digits possible for late night lows, dangerous wind chills

Saturday

Mainly sunny, windy, bitter cold with temperatures struggling to escape the teens, dangerous wind chills

Sunday

Mainly sunny, windy, frigid cold, mid 20’s for afternoon highs

Monday

Mainly sunny, still brisk and very cold, near freezing

Tuesday

Mainly sunny, cold, mid 30’s

Discussion              

Rain will become heavy at times later today and continue into early Friday morning and there can be a thunderstorm or two mixed into this soaking rain event.  A wintry mix is possible for a little while longer early today in some of the normally colder far northern and western suburbs. It’ll turn milder later in the day and winds will become increasingly strong pushing in the milder air. A powerful Arctic front will arrive here on Friday morning and temperatures will drop dramatically on its back side – perhaps by more than 30 degrees in a short period of time. Winds will remain strong behind the front shifting to a W-NW direction and gusting to 50 mph or so. A quick freeze-up is possible on Friday of any wet spots that remain on the roadways from the prior rainfall. A burst of snow is likely immediately behind the frontal passage which can quickly generate a coating to an inch or two - adding to the potential difficulty in overall travel conditions. Temperatures may bottom out in the single digits by early Saturday morning (Christmas Eve) and the frigid weather will continue through Christmas Day (Sunday). Winds will stay quite strong through much of the weekend adding to the suffering of the upcoming “face-slapping” Arctic cold.

Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield Weather