Capital Weather Gang from The Washington Post

Daily forecast for the Washington area

D.C.-area forecast: Temperatures dive and gusty wind continues; showers Thursday

Morning on Capitol Hill. (Erik Cox)

* Freeze watch in Frederick County for Tuesday night into Wednesday morning *

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

6/10: A crisp but sunny diversion from our warm October version

EXPRESS FORECAST

Today: Sunny, breezy, colder. Highs: 58-62.
Tonight: Mostly clear and colder. Lows: 35-45.
Tomorrow: Sunny and cool. Highs: 56-60.

View the current weather conditions at The Washington Post headquarters.

FORECAST IN DETAIL

The coolest conditions since April arrive today, forcing us to zip up the jackets and keep an eye on the plants. Temperatures are running below normal today and tomorrow. Needed showers arrive Thursday but escape before Friday. Our final October weekend is typical autumn, with just a shot at some stray showers.

Today (Tuesday): Sunny skies and cooler than yesterday with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. Brisk winds from the northwest at 5 to 10 mph with gusts to 15 offer some slight wind chill effects at times. Confidence: High

Tonight: Mostly clear skies and calm wind set the stage for freeze and frost concerns in the outer western to northwestern suburbs especially. Lows range widely from the middle 30s to the middle 40s (in the city), but far outer spots could dip toward the freezing mark. Confidence: 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 (Wednesday): Midweek offers the coolest day of the week with a relatively chilly morning and temperatures lifting only into the middle to upper 50s to just about 60. Mostly sunny skies offer some consolation, and at least the winds are light, too (from the north or northwest at around 5 mph). Confidence: High

Tomorrow night: Clouds arrive and temperatures fall into the lower to middle 40s. Confidence: High

A LOOK AHEAD

Thursday is our wet day of the week with mostly cloudy skies, off-and-on showers or periods of rain as low pressure moves through. Highs range through the cool middle to upper 50s. We could pick up about a quarter to half inch of rain to help out our dry October status. Some showers linger into Thursday evening, with lows toward dawn down to the upper 40s to low 50s. Confidence: Medium

Friday features clearing skies in the morning with a mostly sunny afternoon as highs reach up to around 60. Friday night offers a few clouds with lows ranging through the 40s. Confidence: Medium

The weekend should be fairly close to seasonal overall with partly to mostly sunny skies. We run the outside/low chance of a few showers either Saturday afternoon or on Sunday as some weak disturbances pass by to our north. Otherwise, highs aim for the lower to middle 60s on Saturday with lows in the upper 40s to low 50s Saturday night under partly cloudy skies. Sunday has a chance to surge into the lower to middle 70s depending on the track of the next weather system. Confidence: Low-Medium

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