7:00 AM | ***Periods of rain today and tonight, maybe a thunderstorm...rain can mix with or change to snow early tomorrow before the precipitation event winds down***
Paul Dorian
6-Day forecast for the Washington, D.C. metro region
Today
Periods of rain and some of the rain can be moderate-to-heavy at times, maybe a thunderstorm, becoming breezy, cool, highs in the mid 50’s; SE winds increasing to 10-15 mph
Tonight
Periods of rain and some of the rain can be moderate-to-heavy at times, maybe a thunderstorm, windy and turning colder late, some snowflakes can mix in by daybreak in the far northern and western suburbs, lows in the mid 30’s
Friday
Windy and cold with rain that can mix with or change to snow in some spots before the precipitation event winds down, low-to-mid 40’s for afternoon highs
Friday Night
Becoming mainly clear, breezy, cold, upper 20’s for late night lows
Saturday
Mainly sunny, breezy, cold, near 50 degrees
Sunday
Mainly sunny, milder, upper 50’s
Monday
Partly sunny, mild, chance of showers, near 60 degrees
Tuesday
Mainly sunny, mild, low-to-mid 60’s
Discussion
The month of March has been unusually dry in the Mid-Atlantic region, but a soaking rain event will begin this morning as strong low pressure pushes into the Ohio Valley. This same storm system contributed to the first significant severe weather outbreak of the season on Wednesday and severe weather will be a threat today from Georgia to Virginia. The strong low pressure system will shift in its heretofore northeastward track and take a turn to the south and east later in the day as it runs into an impressive upper-level blocking pattern across southern Canada. At the same time, strong high pressure will build into southeastern Canada today and it will be anchoring quite a cold air mass for this time of year. As the storm pushes to the south and east tonight, the cold air mass will follow suit and rain will change to snow in a northwest-to-southeast fashion. By early tomorrow, low pressure will be situated off the Mid-Atlantic coastline and a mixing with or a changeover to snow is possible all the way down into the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor. After this storm system pushes away later tomorrow, cold and dry air will dominate the scene right through the first half of the upcoming weekend, but it'll turn milder on Sunday.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Perspecta, Inc.
perspectaweather.com