6:00 AM | ***Accumulating snow from Saturday night into Sunday morning...bitter cold, strong winds to follow***
Paul Dorian
6-Day forecast for the Washington, D.C. metro region
Today
Partly sunny, cold, maybe a flurry, highs in the mid-to-upper 30’s; W-NW winds around 5-10 mph
Tonight
Mainly cloudy, quite cold, maybe a flurry, lows in the mid-to-upper 20’s
Saturday
Increasing clouds, becoming breezy, cold, lower 40’s for afternoon highs
Saturday Night
Mainly cloudy, quite cold, snow is likely late, the snow can begin briefly as a mix of rain and snow, middle 20’s for late night lows
Sunday
Mainly cloudy with a chance of snow during the AM hours, partly sunny in the afternoon, windy, very cold, near 30 degrees
Monday
Mainly sunny, breezy, very cold, near 30 degrees
Tuesday
Partly sunny, brisk, still quite cold, mid-to-upper 30’s
Wednesday
Partly sunny, breezy, milder, middle 40’s
Discussion
The next in a series of “clipper” systems will weaken today as it pushes into the Mid-Atlantic region and this will limit its impact around here with little to no snow expected in the local area. By tonight, another Arctic air mass will invade the north-central US from Canada, and this one will be brutal...perhaps the worst of all since this cold pattern got cranking around Thanksgiving Day.
Meanwhile, yet another “clipper” system will head in an east-to-southeast direction on Saturday crossing over the central Plains, Midwest and Ohio Valley, and this is the one with the greatest potential of producing accumulating snow in the Mid-Atlantic region...including the I-95 corridor. When this system arrives on Saturday night, it looks like it will have quite a bit of upper-level support; specifically, in terms of a powerful jet streak. This jet streak is likely to generate strong upward motion across the Mid-Atlantic on Saturday night and Sunday morning assuring there is no weakening as compared with today’s “clipper” system. The result is likely to be accumulating snow here from Saturday night into early Sunday which may begin briefly as a mix of rain and snow. Preliminary snowfall estimates are 1-3 inches for this area with isolated higher amounts possible.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield Weather