10:30 AM | ***From record warmth on Thursday in the Mid-Atlantic region to much colder, snow showers on Saturday....accumulating snow/sleet possible later Monday across the northern Mid-Atlantic***
Paul Dorian
Not a big deal in terms of snow, but quite a dramatic turnaround in the overall weather by Saturday in the Mid-Atlantic region from the record warmth on Thursday. Map courtesy NOAA, tropicaltidbits.com
Overview
There was record warmth in parts of the East on Thursday including in the Mid-Atlantic region where, for example, Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (DCA) surged to 81 degrees breaking a record set in the late 1800’s. What a difference a day makes…temperatures at mid-day on Friday are in the 40’s in much of the Mid-Atlantic with very gusty NW winds following the early day passage of a strong cold front. The change in weather will become even more dramatic by Saturday as some snow shower activity is likely in the Mid-Atlantic region – including in some of those same areas that reached the 70’s and 80’s just twenty-four hours ago. Looking even farther ahead, accumulating snow and/or sleet is possible from later Monday into early Tuesday across portions of the northern Mid-Atlantic including in the New York City metro region.
Temperatures surged to record levels in parts of the Mid-Atlantic region including at DCA Airport in Washington, D.C. (81 degrees) and BWI Airport in Baltimore, MD (79 degrees). Map courtesy coolwx.com, NOAA
Details
At 5am on Friday morning, Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (DCA) observed an unseasonably mild temperature of 66 degrees and then a strong cold front whipped through the area producing a 51 mph wind gust at 5:30am. Temperatures dropped into the 50’s by mid-morning in DC and will at best hold steady during the mid-day hours on Friday as N-NW winds gust to 40 mph or so. In the Philly metro region where temperatures surged to 70 degrees on Thursday in some of the suburbs, dramatic cooling has also taken place on Friday with the 40’s commonplace along with very gusty N-NW winds. Farther to the north, northern New Jersey and New York City never got to enjoy the warmth on Thursday as low-level east-to-northeast flow held temperatures in the 40’s across much of the northern Mid-Atlantic and temperatures there are likely to drop into the 30’s later in the day on Friday.
The warmth has been pushed out of the Mid-Atlantic region on Friday by the passage of a strong cold front and bitter cold conditions across much of the north-central and north-west US continues to result in record or near record lows in many spots. Map courtesy coolwx.com, NOAA
While certainly not a big deal by normal standards for snow in late February in the Mid-Atlantic region, the fact that record highs were set on Thursday in some spots (and the lack of snow this winter season) makes Saturday’s turnaround in the weather quite impressive…just 48 hours later. Temperatures will continue to trend downward in the Mid-Atlantic region later Friday dropping to noticeably colder levels by early Saturday morning; especially, when contrasted to recent days. On Saturday, high pressure will push to the northern part of New England anchoring a pretty chilly air mass in the northeastern states and temperatures are likely to hold in the 30’s across the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor.
During the day on Saturday, a quick moving clipper-like system will track to the north during the afternoon hours producing snow showers across the northern Mid-Atlantic (e.g., northeastern, PA, NYC). Meanwhile, there will be some southern energy in the atmosphere on Saturday that can produce some snow shower activity across the southern Mid-Atlantic (e.g., D.C, Philly.) with sleet and/or rain can be mixed in at times. The end result is that the DC-to-Philly corridor will see a dramatic change in overall weather conditions from Thursday’s warmth to much colder conditions on Saturday with possible snow showers.
Looking ahead, the next system to affect the Mid-Atlantic region will come early next week and it looks to be quite strong with plenty of moisture available. There will likely be enough cold air around for this next system to result in some accumulating snow and sleet in the northern part of the Mid-Atlantic region (e.g., northeastern PA, interior northwestern New Jersey) from later Monday into early Tuesday. Even the Philly metro region may see a wintry mix at times from later Monday into early Tuesday, and the New York City metro region can gets its first 2 or 3 inches of snow this winter season before a potential changeover there to rain. By late next week, another low pressure system can threaten the Mid-Atlantic region with more in the way of wintry precipitation…stay tuned in coming days on that potential Friday storm threat.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield
arcfieldweather.com