Forecast: Winter chill doesn’t last long

Today's Daily Digit

 

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

 

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With temps not more than a few degrees below normal, and skies turning brighter, I'd call it a better-than-average December day.
 
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Today: Becoming partly to mostly sunny. Low-to-mid 40s. | Tonight: Clear and cool. Mid-20s to low 30s. | Tomorrow: Mostly to partly sunny, increasing clouds late. Near 50 to low 50s. | Get Express Forecast by E-mail

If you’re heading out early to finish up your holiday shopping, make sure to bundle up and maybe pack your shades, too. Despite today’s increasing sun, we’re still on the cold side, especially compared to what we’ve seen for most of the month so far. That’s about to change, though, with another quick warm-up to start the work week. As temperatures go even higher toward midweek, so do rain chances.

Snow Potential Index: 2 (→) - Catch any flurries last evening? Hints of a disorganized storm late this week are enough to hold the index steady.

 

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 (Sunday): Kind of a cold, tranquil December day for our Sunday. Mostly to partly cloudy early-to-mid morning skies turn partly to mostly sunny thereafter. A bit of a breeze from the north/northwest adds an additional chill to highs only in the low-to-mid 40s. But with the increasing sun, it shouldn’t feel all that cold for this time of year. Confidence: High

Tonight: Winds drop to near calm overnight, and with clear skies, that means we’re in for a chilly one. Make sure to factor window-scraping time into your morning commute, as lows in the mid-20s to low 30s (suburbs to city) should be cold enough to drop a nice coating of frost on your car. Confidence: High

Keep reading for the forecast through midweek...

Tomorrow (Monday): We start our new work week with a mostly sunny morning as high pressure controls much of the mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S. That high-pressure center gets shoved off the coast during the day and clouds begin to infiltrate our skies by late afternoon or toward evening. But, before we cloud over, temperatures get a nice bump, with highs near 50 to the low 50s. Confidence: High

Tomorrow night: By tomorrow night, our skies turn mostly cloudy. On the bright side, at least we won’t need to scrape frost off the windows come morning, as this cloud “blanket” keeps lows fairly mild - mid-to-upper 30s in the burbs, to upper 30s to near 40 downtown. A few sprinkles or flurries can’t be ruled out north and west of town. Confidence: Medium-High

By Tuesday, a storm center off to our west extends a frontal boundary our way. While the front won’t have all that much moisture to work with, there should be enough to keep skies mostly cloudy, and perhaps set off a few isolated sprinkles or light showers. If you don’t mind the gray, it won’t be half-bad, with highs near 50. Confidence: Medium

Tuesday night and Wednesday, rain chances rise to around 50% or higher as the storm center to the west continues to develop and advance east. A fairly steady period of rain is possible at some point, though details are still fuzzy. Tuesday night lows are mainly in the 40s, followed by Wednesday highs in the 50s. Confidence: Low-Medium