5:30 a.m. update — Snow has ended after several inches fall locally
Accumulating snow has ended and is moving northeast away from the area after a few inches fell overnight. With temperatures near and below freezing, some difficult travel is expected over the next few hours. While treated roads are looking passable if slow-going, you’ll want to take it easy out there this morning as secondary roads are often fully snow-covered.
Snow totals so far appear to be mainly in the two-to-four-inch range locally, with a group of numbers near four inches or more around Reston and Dulles Airport as well as northwestern suburbs around Germantown. Some of the tallies so far are below:
- Damascus, Md. – 5.3 inches
- Herndon, Va. – 4.5 inches
- Manassas Park, Va. – 4 inches
- Dulles International – 3.7 inches
- Crofton, Md. – 3.5 inches
- Dupont Circle, D.C. – 2.5 inches
- Broken Hill, Va. – 2.2 inches
Folks have sent in some snow photos and videos. Here’s a selection from the early-morning crew:
A somewhat subjective rating of the day’s weather, on a scale of 0 to 10.
4/10: Snow lovers enjoy a “polite snow,” with most or all of it conveniently falling before sunrise. The morning commute may still be dicey. Wind chills are occasionally bitter despite sunshine!
- Today: Sunnier, windier as snow ends. Highs: 27-32.
- Tonight: Clear. Breezy. Lows: Teens.
- Tomorrow: Sunny. Fairly calm. Highs: Near 30 to mid-30s.
- Sunday: Rain starting as wintry mix? Highs: Low to mid-40s.
We’ve got deep winter feels today, with post-snow wind chills in the teens. Many spots may not get above freezing (32 degrees) until Sunday, so melting will be limited — despite ample sunshine through tomorrow. Perhaps a good time for the slopes? Sunday rain timing is still a slightly moving target, along with how much (if any) wintry mix starts or ends this dampness.
Today (Friday): Be careful on the roads, especially this morning. If not over yet, snow is ending from west to east rapidly, but we likely remain slick. Temperatures only top out in the upper 20s to low 30s. West-northwest winds may gust near 35 mph, producing wind chills in the teens. Bundle up! Confidence: High
Tonight: Skies remain clear and winds slowly calm below 10 mph late night. This clear, calmer scenario — in conjunction with a fresh snowfall — allows heat to easily escape our lowest level of the atmosphere. Low temperatures fall quickly into the teens throughout the region. Reagan National Airport may see its coldest night of the past three winters! Confidence: High
Tomorrow (Saturday): High pressure is in control, keeping both cloud development and winds suppressed. Enjoy this clear, calmer January day! High temperatures may still struggle near 30 degrees to perhaps mid-30s. Yet it feels much warmer than Friday, thanks to calmer winds. Confidence: High
Tomorrow night: Clear and calm conditions should be in place for most of the night. Temperatures still benefit from this combo and our still-fairly-fresh snow, easily dipping into the low to mid-20s. A light southerly breeze helps bring up temperatures closer to 30 degrees before dawn. Confidence: Medium-High
Sunday: Clouds may move in quickly, if not already present at sunrise. Southerly breezes help boost temperatures into the low to mid-40s by late afternoon; however, some of the expected rain may start as freezing rain, a few pellets of sleet or snow grains (graupel). We should be all-rain by a couple of hours into the shield of precipitation. It may arrive in the morning, but a later (afternoon) arrival would give time for warmer air to arrive.
We’ll watch this closely, since the timing of rain and exit of cold air from our region is still a medium-confidence forecast. Any accumulation is currently expected to be brief, light and prefer areas west of town. Confidence: Medium
Sunday night: Cold air arrives behind an Arctic front. This raises the prospect that evening rain may end as a few snowflakes, sleet pellets or even some freezing rain before dawn, as precipitation ends, and low temperatures bottom out in the mid- to upper 20s. Frozen precipitation accumulation, if any, is likely to be light and may target areas west of Interstate 95. Please stay tuned for forecast tweaks as we get closer. Confidence: Low-Medium
Wind-chilled but sunny conditions possible again Monday and Tuesday as winter reasserts itself. Gusty northwesterly winds could add some wind chill to already cold high temperatures. Monday may only get into the 35- to 40-degree range, while Tuesday may be stuck in the 25- to 30-degree zone. Very January! Especially with the potential of wind chills in the single digits for the first time this season. Confidence: Medium
A daily assessment of the potential for at least one inch of snow in the next week, on a 0-10 scale.
1/10: Raindrops Sunday into Sunday night could start or end with some frozen precipitation. Very little chance of accumulation around here.
Ian Livingston contributed to this post.
