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Today's Daily Digit

 

A somewhat subjective rating of the
day's weather, on a scale of 0 to 10.

 

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Not quite as nice as Saturday. But hard to complain about early sun and a run at 50 even with p.m. shower chance.
 
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Today: Increasing clouds. P.M. shower/snow shower? Upper 40s to low 50s. | Tonight: Shower/snow shower early? Upper 20s to low 30s. | Tomorrow: Partly to mostly sunny. Mid-to-upper 40s. | A Look Ahead | Get Express Forecast by E-mail

I suppose we’re about due for a little bit of a cool down. And cool down we do over the next couple days, but not by all that much. Fear not though, warm-weather fans - warmth builds again toward midweek when highs head back to near or past 60. Precipitation chances are limited to a shower or snow shower later today or this evening, and a chance of showers Wednesday as a cold front approaches.

Snow Potential Index: 1 (→) - Possible late-week storm could end with flakes if cold air follows close behind. Accum not likely but at least something for snow lovers to cling to.

 

The SPI is a daily assessment of the potential for accumulating snow for the next week on a 0-10 scale. Get the 'SPI' on Twitter

 

Radar & lightning: Latest regional radar shows movement of precipitation and lightning strikes over past two hours. Refresh page to update. Click here or on image to enlarge. Or see radar bigger on our Weather Wall.

Today (Sunday): We’re looking at mostly sunny skies early, but they’ll cloud up by or during the afternoon as a cold front approaches from the northwest. Breezes from the southwest pick up in the afternoon and keep highs above average, in the upper 40s to low 50s. The mountains do their best to dry any precipitation along the front, but an afternoon or evening shower (or snow shower north) could sneak in. Confidence: Medium-High

Tonight: We'll hold on to the chance of a shower or snow shower into the evening. Once the front passes later in the evening, skies clear and winds turn to come out of the west/northwest. Overnight lows drop back to the upper 20s to low 30s. Confidence: Medium-High

Keep reading for the forecast through midweek...

Today's Daily Digit

 

A somewhat subjective rating of the
day's weather, on a scale of 0 to 10.

 

Discuss
on

Mild with less in the way of wind and plenty of sun. If it's not going to snow... might as well enjoy!
 
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Today: Partly to mostly sunny. 52-57 | Tonight: Partly cloudy. Upper 20s to mid-30s | Tomorrow: Partly cloudy, p.m. sprinkle or flurry? Mid-40s to near 50. | A Look Ahead | Get Express Forecast by E-mail

In a month, and (so far) a winter, where warmth is the rule, it’s probably no surprise that much of the forecast period will feature milder than normal air. The general story through Monday is a step-down in temperatures, and then on Tuesday we start to go back the other way as the month of January closes. While it looks like February starts on the same warm and snowless note, it’s hard to forget how many big snowstorms have happened in that month!

Snow Potential Index: 1 (→) - Chance of a late Sunday snowflake. Not much after that for next week. May trend more favorable after though.

 

The SPI is a daily assessment of the potential for accumulating snow for the next week on a 0-10 scale. Get the 'SPI' on Twitter

 

Today (Saturday): Get ready for more sun! It’s another not-too-wintry one out there with cool morning temperatures rising to mild afternoon readings mainly in the mid-50s. Winds blow from the west around 10-15 mph with higher gusts. Confidence: Medium-High

Tonight: Under partly clouds skies, our gradual cool down continues, and that means 20s return to the map in spots. It’s January, so what do we expect, right? It’s actually still a bit warmer than normal, with lows in the upper 20s to mid-30s. Confidence: Medium-High

Keep reading for the forecast through the beginning of next week...

What a day! Thunderstorms rocked the region, the mercury spiked and then reversed course as winds raged. Less volatile, dry weather arrives this weekend, but it’s still more more like March than late January. Saturday’s a good 10 degrees warmer than average, and even Sunday’s temps are a notch above the norm.

Through Tonight: It’s a bit blustery this evening, but the gusty wind from the west at 10-20 mph (gusting to 25-30) gradually ramps down overnight. Temperatures also steadily drop, bottoming out from 33-39 (suburbs-city). Wind chills will fall from the 40s this evening to near freezing by morning.

The weekend: Both days feature partly to mostly sunny skies and a breeze (10-15 mph, with some higher gusts). Saturday’s on the mild side, with highs in the mid-50s. Partly cloudy and turning chilly Saturday night, with lows from the upper 20s to low 30s (downtown). Sunday’s noticeably cooler than Saturday, with highs in the mid-40s.

See Camden Walker’s forecast into early next week. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock.

Rainfall totals: The showers and thunderstorms which punched through the region this morning generally dropped 0.25-0.75” of rain although there were pockets of higher (northeast of the District) and lower amounts (west of the District). At the airports, Reagan National received 0.63”, Dulles 0.19” and BWI 0.89”.

Plant hardiness zones, an indicator of the coldest winter temperature, have shifted north and northwest since 1990 around Washington, D.C. (USDA; Patterson Clark and Laris Karklis - The Washington Post) Planting zones are retreating north all over the country, but the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) won’t state the obvious: the shift is a rock solid indicator of climate change.

On Wednesday, the USDA released a new plant hardiness zone map, which contours the nation according to average annual lowest winter temperatures. The new zones analyze these temperatures for the period 1976-2005, updating a 1990 version of the map, which covered 1974-1986.

Interactive map: USDA upgrades Plant Hardiness Zone Map

Although these zones, which serve as a guide to the kinds of plants that can grow, have shifted north in most areas, USDA shied away from making a climate change connection.

“The map is not a good instrument for determining climate change,” said Kim Kaplan, a spokeswoman for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. “It’s not that there hasn’t been global climate change it’s that the map isn’t a good (vehicle) for demonstrating it.”

A massive snow pile in Oakton, Virginia, January 26, 2012. How long will our snow piles last?

Do you remember Snow Pile Watch 2010, when our monstrous snow piles lasted into May? Those were good times, the snowstorms were big and the snow piles were even bigger.

This year, unfortunately, we cannot seem to replicate any part of that record-breaking winter season. Instead, we have had two small snow events that barely allowed for a sled run. And, now there is even more bad news for us snow lovers, the February 2012 outlook appears quite bleak for snow and wintry weather.

So, I have finally had enough of the bad snow news and the various discussions of canceling winter early. In an effort of unbridled denial that this winter is actually awful, I have started Snow Pile Watch 2012.

I took the camera with me Thursday morning and I photographed an assortment of both amazing and scary snow piles across western Fairfax County. These photos will surprise and astound even the most doubtful of our winter weather enthusiasts. Sit back and be amazed.

Continue reading for some amazing and scary snow piles.