While we’ll get noticeably milder on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the Mid-Atlantic region, building Arctic high pressure to our north at the end of the week will result in much colder conditions for the weekend. A frontal system will pass through the region on Friday and this will set off some drastic changes around here as we head into the weekend. To make matters worse, moisture will head our way from the south-central US and the combination of this moisture with strong surface Arctic high pressure to our north may result in a prolonged period of ice and/or snow.
Read More
Much milder weather is in store for the region during the second half of the week, but the transition from the current cold conditions may be accompanied by a brief period of frozen precipitation later this morning; especially, in the northern suburbs before an eventual changeover to plain rain. Specifically, a brief period of snow or sleet is possible later this morning; especially, north of the District, and there can be a touch of freezing rain late today, but then plain rain is most likely tonight. The milder air will finally win out on Wednesday and temperatures could reach the 50 degree mark for highs. By Thursday, temperatures are likely jump to 60 degrees as a strong southwest wind develops and the mild weather should last right into Friday. After that; however, strong Arctic high pressure will build to our north and this will lead to much colder conditions around here and perhaps even a period of ice or snow as moisture heads our way this weekend from the Midwest.
Read More
Brutal cold greets the new work week this morning and the good news is that it will retreat over the next couple of days, but the bad news is there will be precipitation as we transition to milder conditions. Arctic high pressure will push of the coast over the day or so and a series low pressure systems will track across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes. Precipitation could arrive here from one such system late tomorrow and then more showers are likely during each day of the Wednesday through Friday time period. It will also become quite mild during the second half of the week with 60 degrees possible on Thursday. Looking back at Saturday’s snowfall, Reagan Airport officially reported 0.4 inches and there was a general range in the metro region of a coating to a couple of inches. Looking ahead to the weekend, building Arctic high to our north could present problems for us in terms of increasing the chances for some icing issues.
Read More
A healthy environment is allowing for quick intensification of a coastal storm today and heavy small-scale (a.k.a., mesoscale) snowbands are forming on the storm’s northwestern flank. One such heavy snow band is moving into the DC metro region (arrows) right around the noon hour and this same type of banding should reach SE PA early this afternoon and then NYC by mid-to-late afternoon. Certainly, it is best to avoid driving during snowfall associated with these bands as visibility will drop quickly and accumulations on the roadways will be rapid. This banding will mean snowfall rates will be quite variable from one place to another and from one time to another. Another area of interest on radar is across southwestern Virginia (circled area). It is this area that holds some potential for additional bands of snow to reach DC, Philly and NYC later in the day and it will be monitored for its radar echo movement and (potential) expansion.
Read More
Latest satellite and radar images confirm the precipitation field of the developing coastal storm is rapidly expanding. In addition, a look at lightning strikes over the Gulf of Mexico shows a very dynamic atmosphere with copious amounts of thunderstorm activity and this will aid in the rapid intensification of this storm system. All of this leads me to believe there will be a greater push to the northwest on Saturday of the accumulating snow field associated with the developing coastal storm and accumulations in the big city metro regions of DC, Philly and NYC could reach 1-3 inches. Just to the south and east of the big cities the snowfall could reach the 3-6 inch range (e.g., interior southern New Jersey, southern Maryland), and near the coastline a foot of snow is possible (e.g., Cape May, NJ, Atlantic City, NJ, Ocean City, MD, eastern Long Island).
Read More
A wall of cold has swept over the nation and, earlier in the day, every state in the union except for Florida had temperatures below the freezing mark somewhere within its borders. In addition, 25 states had temperatures below zero and 6 states actually had locations with temperatures below -20°F. The cold is not the only weather problem for the nation – soon there will widespread regions experiencing significant snow or ice. In fact, there will be frozen precipitation over the next 24 hours extending from Texas to New England and this includes many unusual areas in the Deep South and Southeast US. The DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor will also be under the influence of this developing major storm system and snow will return here by early tomorrow. Following the Saturday storm, brutal cold air will flood into the eastern US from the north and there may be some all-time record lows in portions of the Carolinas helped along by the expected fresh and deep new snowpack.
Read More
Low pressure will pull away from the Mid-Atlantic coastline this morning and now attention turns to the next developing storm system. This next system will strengthen rapidly on Saturday near the Mid-Atlantic coastline and it is going to produce major snowfall for the Southeast US from Alabama to southeastern Virginia. Accumulations are also likely right here in the immediate I-95 corridor region from DC-to-Philly-to-NYC with preliminary estimates as follows: a coating to a couple of inches in the DC metro region, 2-4 inches just to the south and east of the District, and 6 or more inches possible on Saturday at the coastline of the Delmarva Peninsula. There will be a sharp gradient in snowfall amounts on the northwestern edge of this system so stay tuned as a slight shift in storm track or an adjustment in its potential strength and precipitation field extent can have big impacts around here. Bitter cold air will follow this storm for Saturday night through Monday night in the eastern US and portions of the Carolinas - where there may be a foot or more of fresh snowcover - could drop to amazing below zero readings.
Read More
A significant blast of Arctic air has moved into the region and we’ll stay well below normal in temperatures through Monday of next week. In addition to the cold, accumulating snow is on the way from one low pressure system and then there will be another system early this weekend that will crush the Southeast US with snow and subsequent brutal cold, and it’ll - at a minimum - come awfully close to the Mid-Atlantic I-95 corridor.
Read More
Low pressure will head towards the Mid-Atlantic coastline over the next twelve hours or so and will spread accumulating snow into the I-95 corridor from DC-to-Philly-to-NYC. The snow is likely to arrive here during the mid-to-late afternoon hours and continue until early tomorrow (4 or 5am) with accumulations on the order of a coating to an inch or two and some roads will become slippery. Another system will strengthen near the Mid-Atlantic coastline on Saturday and it is likely to produce significant accumulating snow in parts of the Southeast US (e.g., Carolinas, Georgia) and will come quite close to the Mid-Atlantic’s I-95 corridor on its northwestern periphery. At this time, odds continue to favor this weekend threat staying just to the south and east of here, but this system will continue to be closely monitored as a slight shift in the currently projected storm track could have a big impact here. As far as temperatures are concerned, they’ll remain well below normal right through Monday and will not even make it to freezing this weekend.
Read More
A significant blast of Arctic air will become quite noticeable tonight as the sun goes down, temperatures drop, and the winds pick up out of the northwest and it’ll stay colder-than-normal right into the early part of next week. In addition to the cold, accumulating snow is likely around here tomorrow night and early Friday from one low pressure system and then there will another system to monitor this weekend near the eastern seaboard. Although odds currently favor the worst effects of that weekend system to stay just to our south and east, there are reasons to believe that it could shift to the north and west somewhat from current model projections.
Read More
