‘Vanishing point’
courtesy of ‘Pianoman75’

Friend of We Love DC Logan Johnson, Senior Meteorologist for the National Weather Service, was kind enough to provide us with a specially updated forecast for the DC Area:

Snow lovers can rejoice (yet again!) as another winter storm has set its sights on the DC Metro area. This one looks like it may very well rival or even exceed the historic storm of December 19th. Low pressure taking shape over the Gulf of Mexico will visit the southern states with heavy rain, thunderstorms, and windy conditions. As the low takes a northward turn Friday night…it will strengthen off the Georgia coast and send precipitation towards the Mid-Atlantic. A cold area of high pressure will already be in place, and this will allow for the precipitation to fall as snow as the low pressure continues to strengthen and lift north to just off the Delmarva peninsula by early Saturday. Read on for the complete coverage

Light snow will begin falling during the morning hours of Friday in the DC area and will increase throughout the day, with heavy snow arriving during the late afternoon and evening hours. Snow will fall heavily through the night, and continue through Saturday morning, before tapering off during the afternoon hours. At this point, the worst conditions appear to arrive late Friday afternoon through Saturday morning…with heavy snow during this time. Snow will fall at the rate of several inches per hour at times, with visibility reduced and roads quickly becoming snow covered and making travel extremely hazardous or impossible.

Winter storm warnings are posted for the DC metro area, and current indications are that 16 to 24 inches of snow are possible in the area. This will rival or exceed the December storm in many areas. Winds gusting to 25 mph overnight Friday will make for blowing and drifting snow, and low visibility.

Significant and substantial disruptions to travel, including high impacts to the Friday evening rush hour are expected. This has the potential to be a significant snow storm, and possibly even historic. The heaviest February 2 day snowfall on record for the Washington area is a very old record — set way back on February 12-13 of 1899, when 19 inches fell in a storm that was so significant it was known as the “Snow King”.

This is going to be a big nasty storm if it keeps on its track. Just remember that Metro will switch to underground operation only after we’ve received 8 inches. We’ll be watching this storm carefully, and we think it’s entirely possible that we could receive 8 inches of snow before the end of rush hour on Friday, so keep that in mind if you’re headed out to the above-ground stations on Metro. Metrobuses will also switch to snow-emergency routes once we get over a certain height.

Tom Bridge

I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.