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Sleet and Snow May Follow Soaking Rain
Sloppy a.m. commute may affect some schools
* Radar, Temps & More: Weather Wall | PM Update *
Winter Weather Advisory early Friday for Montgomery, Loudoun, Frederick & Howard counties
Rain continues to fall steadily this evening with temperatures mainly in the upper 30s to around 40 except in the mid 30s well north and west of town. Expect more rain but after midnight, sleet and then snow may start mixing in with the rain from northwest to southeast. In the pre-dawn hours, the precipitation may become all snow in Loudoun and Montgomery counties and to the northwest. A coating to an inch or so of snow is possible in these areas, which are under a Winter Weather Advisory. The National Weather Service in Sterling nicely summarizes the potential impacts in its latest discussion:
ACCUMULATIONS WOULD MAINLY BE ON NON-PAVED SURFACES /GRASS...CARS...ETC/ WITH TEMPERATURES MAINLY IN THE MID 30S...BUT IF THE SNOW COMES DOWN HARD ENOUGH IN A BURST THEN ITS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION FOR A SLOPPY ACCUMULATION ON SOME ROADS.
Inside the beltway and to the south and east, a mix of rain, sleet and snow may develop towards dawn, and may briefly change to all snow before ending.
In light of the possibility of a bit of slipperiness in the north and west suburbs for the a.m commute, we give you....
For Loudoun and Frederick Counties and north and west: 
Everywhere else:
By
Jason Samenow
| December 11, 2008; 9:00 PM ET
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Posted by: VAStateOfMind | December 11, 2008 9:42 PM | Report abuse
OOz NAM takes bulk of moisture up through W.Va. from upper low.
Trajectory from upstate S.C. indicates it may be a little farther east.
Posted by: AugustaJim | December 11, 2008 9:59 PM | Report abuse
VaStateofMind: There may be a bit of a break -- especially west of I-95 before the upper level low (over Georgia) approaches in the wee hours...
Posted by: Jason-CapitalWeatherGang | December 11, 2008 10:00 PM | Report abuse
You guys really think that a legit school cast was anywhere near necessary in this situation?
Posted by: wecndo | December 11, 2008 10:12 PM | Report abuse
wecndo: Yes, for the areas in the advisory, and even for fauquier, b/c our school system is countywide, if it's icy in Linden, the whole county is affected.
Posted by: weathergrrl | December 11, 2008 10:37 PM | Report abuse
NWS forecasts 1-2 inches of snow for Sterling, with 1-3 inches for the central and western parts of the county. Is this reasonable for 3 hours of snow on the back end of a storm?
Posted by: Sterlingva | December 11, 2008 10:58 PM | Report abuse
wecndo -- what's the point in having the 1 or 1.5 apple graphics if we don't use them? :) ... seriously, though, since there's at least a chance of some minor accumulation to the north and northwest, why shouldn't we do a SchoolCast?
Posted by: Dan-CapitalWeatherGang | December 12, 2008 1:18 AM | Report abuse
The rain was soaking enough to set several daily rainfall records around the region.
Posted by: CapitalClmate | December 12, 2008 1:22 AM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.
Actually looks like a fairly sizeable dry slot is taking a bead on the immediate DC area, moving up from southern VA - anyone else interpreting the radar that way?