Community Corner

National Weather Service: Snow in the Forecast for Tuesday

By Friday, the metro area will see lots of sunshine with temperatures in the 60s.

Yes, the first day of spring was last week. Yes, the National Cherry Blossom Festival is in full bloom. And yes, reports of winter's death may have been exaggerated

What we're trying to say here? The D.C. metro region could see some snow Tuesday morning, most likely between 8-11 a.m.

Patch talked Monday with Carl Barnes, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service's Sterling office:

"We are looking at likely snow across the area" for Tuesday morning, he said. "We'll probably see accumulations in most areas; probably not anything like [last week's] recent storm in the area."

"What we're looking at is probably 2 inches accumulation for the western suburbs (Loudoun County and western Fairfax County)," Barnes said. In eastern areas of Northern Virginia, residents will likely see 1 inch of snow. 

Barnes said Tuesday morning's snow is likely to accumulate on grassy areas and melt once it hits the roadways, although he's not ruling out icy patches.

"There's a little bit of extra heat from the sun helping keep road temperatures up a little higher," he said. He noted though that with snow falling during rush hour (likely beginning at about 8 a.m.) there is also potential for impacts due to reduced visibility. "And it could start off sticking to roads," he said.

Temperatures Tuesday morning: "We are looking at right before sunrise in the upper 20s to lower 30s," he said, "and expecting it to get above freezing for most of the area by 9 to 10 a.m."

The snow will likely be "slushy" with possible icy spots on roadways when temperatures are below freezing.

The wintry weather at this time of year "is not totally out of the question," Barnes said. "It was about a year ago to the day that we had a snowstorm and saw accumulations of 1 to 4 inches across the area."

Any possibility for school delays Tuesday morning? "It's hard to say," Barnes said. "It's not out of the question for a two-hour delay. But we don't make that call."

By Thursday, the DC metro region will be "back to more seasonal temperatures, around 50 degrees."

The best weather day of the week this week? Friday, when it will be sunny with highs in the 60s, Barnes said. 

If you're keeping an eye out for peak bloom dates for the cherry blossoms, check out the dates recently released by the National Park Service.



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