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Forecast: Cloudy and Cool's the Rule
Some rain showers for Saturday
* Superstorm of '93 | Later: Death of the Newspaper Weather Page? *
Today: Chance of light a.m. snow/rain, especially south. Mostly cloudy. Low-to-mid 40s. | Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Low-to-mid 30s. | Tomorrow: Cloudy. Occasional showers. Low-to-mid 40s. | Sunday: More showers? Upper 40s. | A Look Ahead
FORECAST IN DETAIL
Winter is making a valiant comeback, and not just with the chance of light snow this morning. The average high at Reagan National Airport is going up every day -- currently at 54 -- yet our actual highs are going in the opposite direction. In fact, we'll be hard-pressed to reach the mid-50s through at least early next week.
Today (Friday): Friday the 13th starts off with a wintry feel in the air, with morning temperatures in the 30s and a bit of light snow or rain possible. Grassy areas, car tops and sidewalks could see a light accumulation, but anything more serious should stay south of the metro area. For the remainder of the day, skies stay mostly cloudy and a flurry or sprinkle could linger with highs only in the low-to-mid 40s. Confidence: Medium
Tonight: It doesn't look like a good night to get out the telescope for stargazing. Skies continue mostly cloudy and temperatures dip to lows in the low-to-mid 30s. Confidence: Medium-High
Will the sun make a showing this weekend? Keep reading for the answer. Also, if you haven't already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Tomorrow (Saturday): Cloudy skies and occasional rain showers -- good news for our growing precipitation deficit (more than 3.5 inches below normal since Jan. 1), but the weekend timing is no fun. Highs only in the low-to-mid 40s and a damp breeze from the northeast will make for a rather raw day. Confidence: Medium
Tomorrow Night: Clouds continue to envelop the area and some rain showers could stick around. The cloud cover will keep temperatures from dropping too far -- lows in the mid-to-upper 30s. Confidence: Medium
Sunday: We'll have to watch another area of precipitation, the heart of which should track by to our south. If it comes close enough we could see mostly cloudy skies and more showers. If it stays far enough south, then we could escape mostly dry with some peeks of sun. Upper 40s is about the best we'll probably do for highs. Confidence: Low
Sunday night, partly to mostly cloudy with maybe a lingering shower and fairly uniform low temperatures in the upper 30s to near 40. Confidence: Medium
Some brightening of the skies could warm temperatures a touch Monday, but still we're on the cool side of things with highs in the low 50s. And we still need to keep a chance of showers (around 20-30%) in the forecast. Confidence: Low-Medium
Tuesday we should see sunshine increase some more. I'll call it partly sunny with highs in the 50s and (for once!) little chance of precipitation. Confidence: Medium
By
Camden Walker
| March 13, 2009; 8:30 AM ET
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Posted by: ZmanVA | March 13, 2009 5:20 AM | Report abuse
Snow continues here in Lake Ridge now at a pretty good rate. Sticking to cars, decks, and grassy areas - all is becoming white (except for roads).
Posted by: ZmanVA | March 13, 2009 7:08 AM | Report abuse
Light snow in Merrifield, VA
Posted by: MDScot | March 13, 2009 7:40 AM | Report abuse
Light snow here in the City of Manassas. It is just sticking to cold surfaces.
Posted by: irish031 | March 13, 2009 7:45 AM | Report abuse
Light snow in Vienna, melting on contact - 37 degrees outside.
Posted by: dennis98 | March 13, 2009 7:49 AM | Report abuse
In west alexandria along sea level duke st, Light snow, no sticking.
one mile north , along seminary rd( Elev 250 ft), Light snow, some sticking on mulched gardens
Posted by: pvogel88 | March 13, 2009 8:18 AM | Report abuse
Would be appropriate if this was the winter of 2008-2009's last gasp -- yet another shot of non-accumulating light snow.
Posted by: Dan-CapitalWeatherGang | March 13, 2009 8:33 AM | Report abuse
Most of our light blanket of snow is now beginning to melt off, but the flakes are still coming .......
Posted by: weathergrrl | March 13, 2009 8:55 AM | Report abuse
What I would call a moderate flurry going on right now in Suitland. Doesn't look like it's planning on staying around much longer, Sun is still shining through the cloud deck.
Posted by: Brian-CapitalWeatherGang | March 13, 2009 9:10 AM | Report abuse
Woke up to 1" of snow this morning east of Front Royal. Temp already up to 32.2F after a low of 25.5F.
Posted by: spgass1 | March 13, 2009 9:58 AM | Report abuse
NW DC at 9a--light snow falling, melting on contact.
Question for CWG: If the snow falls but melts immediately does it register as official snowfall (even a trace?) Or does it have to "stick" on the plate/ground where official measurements are taken?
Posted by: ah___ | March 13, 2009 10:08 AM | Report abuse
what are you guys talking about?! i got 12" here in falls church! just starting to taper off. it's so beautiful... i KNEW we'd get our big storm...i just knew it!
ah: i have wondered about that. what is the surface on which they measure to snow amts? plastic w/air under it? picnic table (glass or wood)?
Posted by: walter-in-fallschurch | March 13, 2009 10:50 AM | Report abuse
@ah___
I'm pretty sure non-accumulating snow registers as a trace.
Posted by: Jason-CapitalWeatherGang | March 13, 2009 10:54 AM | Report abuse
So next week's interesting stuff is not so interesting anymore Dan?
Posted by: manassasmissy | March 13, 2009 11:08 AM | Report abuse
walter,
It sounds like your snow measurement didn't follow the guidelines. You may need to try harder. :)
Posted by: CapitalClimate | March 13, 2009 11:55 AM | Report abuse
capitalclimate:
i see...a snow board. of course. my measurement is much less when i use a darn snow board.
i read of a guy who made an actual snow machine with a compressor and a certain nozzle and something else. i'm curious i admit. i imagine the "flakes" would not be the beautiful hexagonal fractals real flakes are. probably more granular. does the complex geometry of snowflakes contribute to their "packability"? or is that a moisture/temperature/chemical kind of thing?
Posted by: walter-in-fallschurch | March 13, 2009 12:19 PM | Report abuse
walter,
If you can't get any of the real stuff, you might try this blast from the past:
"Don't try this at home, kids"
Don't think you could get to 160 feet around here, though.
Posted by: CapitalClimate | March 13, 2009 4:32 PM | Report abuse
P.S. Even near Fairbanks, it collapsed by about this time in March.
Posted by: CapitalClimate | March 13, 2009 4:40 PM | Report abuse
indeed..."gravity happens" (and high temps too). that sculpture looks like one of those "drip castles" from the beach - which look like evergreens covered in snow. the other day i imagined what would happen if it could snow at say 50 degrees.
gee to bad about kilamanjaro...at least we have pictures to show our kids...
Posted by: walter-in-fallschurch | March 13, 2009 4:53 PM | Report abuse
OH MY GOD! You mean "light, non-accumulating snow" MIGHT be falling at DCA?!? First of all, this is impossible. We don't GET snow in D.C. anymore.
Secondly, there is nothing more pathetic and sad than watching a collapsing newspaper's bogus weather section try to pretend to stay relevant in a city where NOTHING EVER HAPPENS weather-wise except partly crappy and blah forever.
Posted by: RegulusArcturus | March 13, 2009 11:59 PM | Report abuse
"gravity happens":
That's just a theory promoted by the librul media.
Posted by: CapitalClimate | March 14, 2009 12:14 AM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.
Light snow just starting in Lake Ridge. Nothing sticking. Looks like precip should be filling in nicely through most of DC area shortly - esp. through southern Fairfax and Prince William in VA.