Posted at 3:15 PM ET, 03/19/2009

PM Update: Winter Departs on Chilly Note

By Ian Livingston

Spring arrives Friday, but temperatures stay cold

* Photos: A Ghostly Fog | AccuWeather Hurricane Outlook *

The warmth of yesterday was replaced by clouds, some light rain and cooling temperatures today. Highs reached the mid-to-upper 50s this morning prior to the rain and cold front passage. Rainfall totals have been light, generally a few hundredths of an inch, and most places will just be cloudy the rest of the day as temperatures continue falling through the 40s. East and south of D.C., showers may continue for the next hour or two.

Temperatures: Current area temperatures. Powered by Weather Bonk. Map by Google. Hover over and click icons for more info. Click and hold on map to pan. Refresh page to update. See map bigger on our Weather Wall.

Tonight: Clouds stick around through the evening and into the night before clearing begins near morning. With a north wind supplying some colder air, readings should drop into the mid-30s overnight.

Tomorrow (Friday): The sun returns Friday, but cold temperatures remain. Some cloudiness may still be around in the morning before skies trend mostly sunny during the day. Highs should only reach the mid-to-upper 40s, or about 10 degrees below normal for the date.

See Josh Larson's full forecast through early next week.

Spring! Though we are already a few weeks into meteorological spring, astronomical spring officially arrives tomorrow morning at 7:44 a.m. local time. March 17 was the first day we crossed over the 12 hours of daylight boundary (we're currently gaining about 2 ½ minutes of light a day) and we will continue to see more and more daylight through June 21 when summer arrives.