6:00 AM | ***Very windy today with gusts to 50 mph...reinforcing Arctic blast by Thursday...snow showers at times next few days including a chance of small accumulations as we begin the new year***
Paul Dorian
6-Day forecast for the Washington, D.C. metro region
Today
Very windy, cold, partly sunny skies, maybe a snow shower, highs in the middle 30’s with much lower wind chills; W-NW winds around 15-25 mph; gusts to 50 mph
Tonight
Mainly cloudy, breezy, cold, chance of snow showers late, lows in the middle 20’s
Wednesday
Chance of snow showers early; otherwise, partly sunny skies, breezy, cold, upper 30’s for afternoon highs
Wednesday Night
Mainly cloudy, quite cold, chance of snow showers late, low-to-mid 20’s for late night lows
Thursday
Chance of snow showers early then becoming partly sunny, breezy, very cold, low-to-mid 30’s
Friday
Mainly sunny, breezy, cold, near 40 degrees
Saturday
Partly sunny, brisk, cold, near 40 degrees
Sunday
Partly sunny, brisk, cold, near 40 degrees
Discussion
A powerful cold front barreled through the region on Monday and the post-frontal winds picked up dramatically as much colder air poured into the northeastern part of the country. The winds will continue to be strong today from a west-to-northwest direction with gusts of up to 50 mph making it feel even colder than the actual outdoor temperatures. Another blast of Arctic air will push into the Mid-Atlantic region later tomorrow night setting the stage for a very cold start to the new year on Thursday.
In addition to the wind and cold, the next few days will also feature a couple of upper-level “short-wave” disturbances that will rotate through a “long-wave” trough of low pressure centered over the eastern states. As a result, there can be snow showers at various times including late tonight and early tomorrow from one disturbance and again late tomorrow night into early Thursday from a second disturbance. The second “short-wave” is the stronger of the two and small snow accumulations cannot be ruled out as we transition to the new year on Thursday.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield Weather