Temperatures soared into the mid-70s today out ahead of another strong cold front passing through. D.C. reached at least 76, which is the second highest temperature for the date on record and the warmest we’ve been this year. Colder air comes rushing in this evening and temperatures shoot for the 30s by midnight. Tomorrow’s daytime readings are a good 35 degrees colder than today. This February has certainly loved delivering “weather whiplash.”
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Through Tonight: On gusty winds out of the northwest and under clear skies, temperatures fall off pretty rapidly behind the front this evening. Of course, they’ve got a way to go from today. Probably 40s by late evening, and into the 30s in the suburbs around midnight. Winds are from the northwest around 10 to 20 mph, with gusts around 30 mph, adding an extra chill to the air. Lows range from near freezing to the mid-30s.
As a strong cold front moves across the region toward the southeast, temperatures will steadily fall from the 60s and 70s ahead of it to the 30s and 40s behind it late tonight. Thursday's high temperature will occur at midnight tonight. pic.twitter.com/pq6P9bKb75
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) February 23, 2022
View the current weather at The Washington Post.
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Tomorrow (Thursday): Clouds thicken and shower odds rise with the sun. It’s possible not much falls locally into the afternoon. Any risk of iciness is mainly west, in higher elevations. With shower odds growing over time, temperatures don’t move much, only making highs in the mid-30s to perhaps near 40.
Temperatures may dip again a bit with sunset, so it’ll be critical to see where they’re at as more showers and wintry mix moves through. The highest odds of some freezing rain in the immediate area may be in the evening before warmer air slowly seeps in overnight. Farther north, around the Maryland/Pennsylvania border, or out west in the mountains, the risk of iciness is highest.
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Ice concerns? Winter storm watches are up for the high country of western Maryland and surrounds as our late-week wintry mix threat wanders this way. In that area, “significant freezing rain accumulation is possible,” per the watch statement.
Around here, the risk is lower but complicated, nonetheless. Like the NWS, we favor ice accumulation greater than a tenth of an inch to mainly stay north of our area. Temperatures locally, even if they drop to freezing, won’t support much icing.
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"With warm ground temperatures it’s unlikely that the roads will become icy except in the colder areas north and west of the city near the mountains and near the Mason Dixon line, wrote Wes Junker, CWG’s winter weather expert, in a chat. “If the temperatures were to fall into the 20s, we might have to reassess our thinking,” he noted.
Of course, with ice it doesn’t take much.
Most of Loudoun and Montgomery counties should see at least a trace of ice, with potential of up to 0.1 inches in spots. It’s not impossible we’ll see a little icing inside the Beltway, but the aforementioned marginal temperatures and warm antecedent conditions should limit it mainly to elevated objects should it occur.
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