6:15 AM | ***An icy mess possible tomorrow night/early Thursday...sleet/freezing rain can be preceded by snow...plain rain later Thursday...repeat scenario for the weekend...snow threat next week***
Paul Dorian
6-Day forecast for the Washington, D.C. metro region
Today
Clouds give way to sun, breezy, cool, highs in the lower 50’s; NW winds increasing to around 10-20 mph
Tonight
Increasing clouds, brisk, cold, lows near 30 degrees
Wednesday
Mainly cloudy, cold, chance of snow and/or sleet during the PM hours, mid-to-upper 30’s for afternoon highs
Wednesday Night
Sleet and freezing rain, cold, watch for slippery spots, lows near 30 degrees
Thursday
Mainly cloudy with rain or freezing rain changing to rain, milder late, near 45 degrees
Friday
Mainly sunny, breezy, cool, upper 40’s
Saturday
Becoming mainly cloudy, cold, chance of rain, ice and/or snow later in the day and at night, upper 30’s
Sunday
Mainly cloudy, becoming milder, chance of plain rain, lower 50’s
Discussion
In just the next week or so, it appears there will be as many as three opportunities for snow, ice and rain in the Mid-Atlantic region. The first such opportunity will come from late tomorrow into early Thursday and this could turn out to be an icy mess for much of the Mid-Atlantic region leading to issues for the Thursday AM commute in the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor. The setup will include a cold frontal passage today that will be followed by an influx of fresh cold and dry air in the overnight hours while at the same time moisture begins to gather over the Tennessee Valley. This dense, cold air mass will be quite reluctant to give up its ground on Wednesday night as the moisture arrives and surface temperatures will be slow to climb to above freezing levels until later Thursday morning. At the onset of the precipitation later tomorrow, there can be a period of snow in some areas and plain rain with above-freezing temperatures is likely on the back end later Thursday.
Looking ahead, there can be a repeat performance in the Mid-Atlantic region during the upcoming weekend with “snow-to-sleet-to-freezing rain-to-plain rain” on the table. Looking even farther ahead, there may be an accumulating snow threat by the middle of next week in this on-going very active weather pattern.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield Weather