5:30 AM | *****Major winter storm hits from later Saturday night into Monday...significant snowfall and some icing...bitter cold to follow*****
Paul Dorian
6-Day forecast for the Washington, D.C. metro region
Today
Lots of clouds, colder, becoming breezy, highs near 40 degrees; W-NW winds increasing to 5-15 mph; gusts to 25 mph
Tonight
Partly cloudy, windy, bitter cold, lows not far from 10 degrees
Saturday
Increasing clouds, very cold, breezy, near 20 degrees for afternoon highs
Saturday Night
Mainly cloudy, bitter cold, snow begins by midnight, heavy at times late, near 15 degrees for late night lows
Sunday
Mainly cloudy, very cold, breezy, periods of snow, heavy at times, sleet will mix in at times and some freezing rain is possible, significant snow accumulations of 8-14 inches before the mixing, lower 20’s
Monday
Becoming partly sunny, breezy, very cold, still the chance of snow during the early morning hours, middle 20’s; brutally cold at night
Tuesday
Mainly sunny, very cold, lower 20’s; brutally cold at night
Wednesday
Partly sunny, very cold, middle 20’s
Discussion
A major winter storm will affect the Mid-Atlantic region this weekend with significant snowfall and some icing is likely to take place as well. The stage will be set as the latest in a series of Arctic blasts swallows up much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation by later tonight. Despite the likelihood of some icing, this should turn out to be one of the biggest snowstorms in many years for the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor with estimates of 8-14 inches in most areas. The higher amounts in the snowfall accumulation range will be to the north and west (less icing) and the lower amounts will be to the south and east (more icing). In terms of the icing, sleet is likely to be the predominate form thankfully; however, there can be freezing rain in some areas which always raises the red flag for potential power outages. Snow should begin around midnight on Saturday night and precipitation can continue into early Monday morning meaning there can be impacts on travel conditions to start the new work week. Brutally cold air will follow the weekend storm and there is a possibility for another storm to deal with next weekend. (Note- the last time DC recorded a temperature below zero was in January 1994).
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield Weather