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DMV First Warn is issued for Sunday PM into Monday AM

Happy Saturday everyone! The DC NewsNow weather team has issued another DMV initial warning for the area, effective Sunday afternoon and evening through Monday morning. More snow is on the way, with the largest accumulations occurring north and east of D.C.

Tonight will be quiet, with clouds increasing by midnight, but after midnight and around sunrise light to persistent showers will spread over the DMV except for the mountains. Expect overnight lows to stay in the 30s everywhere, but as you move higher you’ll find temperatures closer to freezing.

On Sunday, our next winter storm develops and the setup will be different this time. To start, this storm will start out as rain across the region except for the Allegany Front area in Garrett and Western Allegany counties in Maryland. Rainfall is expected to develop from west to east across the region late tonight and into the early hours of Sunday morning. The wet weather is predicted to start as a mix of light rain and snow in most places, with snowfall falling around 1,500 feet. The key to this storm, as with many storms of the past, is the temperature profile that the atmosphere creates at the beginning.

Most areas will start out in the mid to upper 30s and try to stay in the mid to upper 30s through the afternoon. As a result, most of the DMV will see either just plain rain or a mix of rain and snow for several hours. So for starters, initial moisture doesn’t really accumulate and will be largely ineffective other than wetting the roads. However, snow will accumulate in higher elevations throughout the day.

In the afternoon and evening, temperatures begin to drop as the storm off our coast pulls in cooler air. This will help turn rain into snow for the rest of the day and overnight. Meanwhile, we see snow piling up all over the DMV. Two distinct bands of increased snowfall rates are possible: the first near the Chesapeake Bay and the second in the Cumberland Valley. That’s why a Winter Storm Warning is sweeping the DC Metro area.

Snow totals throughout the DMV will depend on elevation, so in terms of specific snow amounts, expect 2-4 inches overall in and around the Beltway, 4-6 inches across northern Montgomery County, and higher amounts at points north, around the Chesapeake, and along the Blue Ridge and Allegany mountains, where it will remain the longest.

Monday night and into Tuesday the area will be dry but also cold as the thermometer will remain below normal. A fast-moving storm will move toward the DMV Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, bringing mostly cold rain but some more snow to the mountains. Behind this fast system, the southerly wind direction will allow for the return of milder weather after a rapid cooling. The next storm will be all rain, with temperatures dropping into the mid-40s and lower 50s on Wednesday for the rest of the workweek. This looks set to happen under cloudy skies on Thursday. The storm system and cold front will leave the region on Friday and drier weather will prevail next weekend.