Capital Weather Gang from The Washington Post

Daily forecast for the Washington area

D.C.-area forecast: Morning ice concerns, then warmer the rest of the weekend with more showers Sunday

* Winter weather advisory for D.C. area | Freezing rain advisory south of D.C. area *

6:20 a.m. update: Freezing rain is ongoing, with the heaviest focused over the northern half of our area. Temperatures remain below freezing here and well to the south, so the changeover to rain is not yet imminent. It continues to appear that much of the area will rise above freezing over the next several hours. Reports are limited this early, but indications are that it is very slick in many spots and accidents are occurring.

Temperatures as of 6:20 a.m. (NWS Electronic Data Display)

From 5:00 a.m…

TODAY’S DAILY DIGIT
A somewhat subjective rating of the day’s weather, on a scale of 0 to 10.

3/10: Beware of icy issues in the morning, but conditions improve as we get into midday. Milder, too.

EXPRESS FORECAST

Today: Freezing rain to rain, then cloudy. Highs: 40s to near 50.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Passing shower. Lows: 47-54.
Tomorrow: Showers. Highs: Mid-50s to low 60s.

View the current weather at The Washington Post headquarters.

FORECAST IN DETAIL

If you’re slip-sliding around this morning, just keep in mind that we’re about to ditch this deep winter for the weekend, and there’s nothing quite as intense as what we just went through in the near future. But if you can, you definitely might want to consider delaying any outdoor travel or other activities until midday or so, especially north and west of the city. Must be out and about? Do at least exercise extra caution.

Today (Saturday): Freezing rain and rain showers are likely this morning, especially over the northern half of the area. Many spots should start out with freezing rain, but temperatures rise with the sun. The District and south or east may not see a whole lot of glaze, but keep in mind it takes only a tiny bit to cause problems. If you’re out this morning, it’s probably best to assume there’s some ice around. Between about sunrise and 10 a.m., or a little thereafter, we should see the freezing line move out of our area and to the north. Our northern and northwesternmost suburbs stand the best shot at getting more than nuisance levels of ice, but even there it should stay below “major problem” level. Precipitation tends to really wind down by midday, although a couple of stray showers may move by in the afternoon. Highs should largely reach the 40s to around 50 — some chance higher, but the cold “wedge” is hard to fully break. Confidence: Medium

Tonight: Winds continue to blow from a “warm” southwesterly direction through the night out ahead of a cold front. I think most of the night ends up dry, but there might be a passing shower or some spots of drizzle. Temperatures either stay steady from late-day readings or even rise a bit. We may have a fairly wide range in lows from northwest to southeast, or about mid-40s in the former to mid-50s in the latter. In other words, within a few degrees of 50. Confidence: Medium-High

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest updates. For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend…

Tomorrow (Sunday): A cold front crosses the area during the day. We should see enough warm southerly flow ahead of it to get us well into the 50s, or even above 60 in spots before it passes. It won’t rain all day but we could see a few waves of more concentrated showers, some of which could be heavy with gusty winds. Behind the front, temperatures head downward and winds start gusting again from the northwest. We may see a few snowflakes as precipitation ends near evening. Confidence: Medium-High

Tomorrow night: Colder air is rushing back in overnight on winds around 10 to 15 mph from the southwest with higher gusts. Clouds and wind probably help us from getting super cold, but mid-20s to near freezing is plenty chilly either way. Confidence: Medium

A Robin in Capitol Hill. (Miki J. via Flickr)

A robin on Capitol Hill. (Miki J. via Flickr)

A LOOK AHEAD

Colder-than-normal air is back for Monday, and winds continue blowing as well. We could see some clouds linger into the early morning. If so, sun becomes more likely rather quickly as the front moves well off to the east. Winds are up around 15 to 20 mph during the first half of the day, but they slowly diminish in the late afternoon into evening. Highs range from the mid-30s to lower 40s. Confidence: Medium

Tuesday is still chilly, but we begin to moderate slightly at least. Plus it’s totally clear and less windy. All in all, not terrible. Highs should head for the mid-40s or so, which is near average or slightly cooler than is typical for this time of year. Confidence: Medium

SNOW POTENTIAL INDEX
A daily assessment of the potential for at least 1 inch of snow in the next week, on a 0-10 scale.

2/10 (→): Any snow with this system is very short-lived, and no real credible risk on the horizon after.

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