Today’s daily digit

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

5/10: Average score for an average late-January day, with temperatures near normal (low to mid-40s), partial sun and a steady breeze.

Express forecast

  • Today: Becoming partly sunny, steady breeze. Highs: Low to mid-40s.
  • Tonight: Mostly cloudy with a chilly breeze. Lows: 20s.
  • Tomorrow: Windy and cold, becoming mostly sunny. Highs: Mid- to upper 30s.

Forecast in detail

When partly sunny and low-to-mid-40s conditions could make today the most comfortable day of the forecast period, you know you’ve got a solid winter air mass settling in. Temperatures struggle to reach 40 tomorrow and Friday with strong winds sending wind chills into the 20s, perhaps even the teens at times. Saturday stays cold as the winds let up. And then we’ll have to track some model madness with a potential winter storm Sunday into Monday.

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Today (Wednesday): Skies becoming partly sunny help temperatures rebound somewhat today, rising through the 30s this morning with afternoon highs in the low to mid-40s. But a steady breeze around 10-15 mph from the northwest adds an extra chill. Confidence: Medium-High

Tonight: A breeze from the north around 10-15 mph continues to lock the cold air in place. That means lows dipping to the 20s under mostly cloudy skies, with perhaps a flurry or brief period of light snow south of the Beltway. Confidence: High

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Tomorrow (Thursday): We’re between strong high pressure to the west and a strong low-pressure system off the coast. That puts us smack in the middle of strong winds between the systems, from the northwest at 15-25 mph, with gusts 30-40 mph. Early-morning clouds should give way to a mostly sunny day but with highs only in the mid- to upper 30s, and wind chills only in the upper teens and 20s. Confidence: Medium-High

Tomorrow night: Winds ease just a bit during the evening and overnight, but conditions remain rather breezy from the northwest. With mostly clear skies, temperatures drop like a rock, bottoming in the mid-teens to low 20s. Confidence: High

A look ahead

Friday continues much the same as Thursday, with mostly sunny skies, gusty winds and chilly highs only in the mid- to upper 30s. Saturday is mostly to partly sunny, with highs again in the mid- to upper 30s, but this time with light winds. Saturday-night lows fall back to the 20s with increasing clouds. Confidence: Medium-High

As you may have heard, we’re tracking a possible winter storm Sunday into Monday. This one has potential, but so do a lot of them four to five days out, so we’ll keep watching it. Confidence: Low

Snow potential index

A daily assessment of the potential for at least one inch of snow in the next week, on a 0-10 scale.

4/10 (↑): Models continue to show potential for a winter storm on the East Coast on Sunday into Monday, but not much confidence yet on how much snow that could mean for the D.C. area.