Capital Weather Gang from The Washington Post

Daily forecast for the Washington area

D.C.-area forecast: Any showers today are unlikely to hinder Black Friday shopping; windier and cool this weekend

What an amazing, tranquil 70 degrees on the Tidal Basin last weekend before the season-shifting, gusty cold front

Tranquil 70 degree, pre-cold front Tidal Basin — Nov. 10 (Camden Walker)

TODAY’S DAILY DIGIT
A somewhat subjective rating of the day’s weather, on a scale of zero to 10.

7/10: Black Friday is very gray. Carry a small umbrella? We need rain, but it’s only spotty showers this go.

EXPRESS FORECAST

Today: Mainly cloudy. Showers? Highs: Mid-50s to around 60.
Tonight: Slowly clearing clouds. Getting breezier. Lows: Mid-30s to low 40s.
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy and somewhat windy. Highs: Low-to-mid 50s.
Sunday: Sunny but cool and still-breezy. Highs: Around 50 to mid-50s.

FORECAST IN DETAIL

Ready the moisturizer. After today’s somewhat calm, cloudy–but mild–day, we have colder and drier air riding the coattails of slowly increasing northwesterly winds this weekend. Unfortunately there is no major rain to report on. That makes shopping easy at least?

Today (Friday): Clouds dominate, but for out-and-about shoppers, isolated showers (30%-40% chance) could briefly dampen you on your travels. We could use the rain, though. Of course, it doesn’t look to amount to much at all. Southeast breezes are minimal, near 5 mph. High temperatures struggle to get through the mid-50s but especially if we get a few peeks of sunshine, we might boost some spots to around 60. Confidence: Medium-High

Tonight: Northwest winds around 5 mph in the evening start picking up toward 10 mph. Colder, drier air starts assertively moving in behind a weak cold. This eventually helps clear clouds–still hanging tough for first half of the night– with larger breaks possible nearer dawn. Low temperatures get to the mid-30s well outside the Beltway, with lower 40s probable downtown. There’s an outside (10-20%) chance of a stray shower before 2 a.m. Confidence: High

For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. Keep reading for the forecast into next week.

Tomorrow (Saturday): Sunshine does its best to break through some clouds. Breezes turn upward into winder 15-25 mph gusts at times, out of the northwest. High temperatures get stuck in the lower 50s north and west of town, with mid-50s probable downtown (or south & east of town). Grab that heavier windbreaker, maybe the one with the warm lining. Confidence: Medium

Tomorrow night: Get out those telescopes. Clearer skies want to show us more stars than clouds. Bundle up if heading outside for long, though. Northwesterly breezes continue to steadily blow from 5-10 mph so expect a wind chill that feels lower than pre-dawn low temperatures in across the 30s, from near freezing in the cold spots to nearer 40 downtown. Confidence: Medium

A LOOK AHEAD

Sunday: This could be the apex of the Canadian-like chilly, dry, breezy air mass. High temperatures really struggle to get to around 50, perhaps some low-or-mid 50s in the calmer spots, especially south of town. We are lucky to have plentiful sunshine, as it appears now. Yet those west-northwest breezes may continue around 10 mph at times—adding a small bite to the air. Confidence: Medium

Sunday night: More stars than clouds are expected. Chilly, too! Temperatures bottom out in the upper 20s outside of the Beltway to mid-30s downtown. Weather is clear and calm, with lows ranging through the 30s for most. Confidence: Medium

Sunny skies are probable for Monday with somewhat comfortable high temperatures expected in the low-to-mid 50s. Light to moderate southerly breezes are possible by later in the day. An isolated shower may occur very late in the afternoon. Confidence: Low-Medium

Fingers crossed we see some rain showers on Tuesday. We could use the 40-50% chance of rain! But let’s not hold our breath. Skies likely stay mostly cloudy but temperatures are boosted on southerly breezes to perhaps around 60. Enjoy that aspect. Confidence: Low-Medium

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