DELMARVA FORECAST
Thursday night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 20s.
Friday: Partly cloudy early, then increasing clouds. Brief rain or snow showers in the late afternoon and evening. Light accumulations on grassy and elevated surfaces. Highs in the mid 40s. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.
Friday night: Brief snow and rain showers early, then clearing. Icy conditions possible. Lows in the mid 20s. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.
Saturday: Mostly sunny. Cold. Breezy. Highs in the mid 30s. Wind chills in the mid 20s.
Sunday: Increasing clouds. Cold. Breezy. Highs in the mid to upper 30s. Wind chills in the mid 20s.
Monday: Snow or a rain/snow mix with some accumulation likely on some portions of Delmarva. Highs in the mid 30s.
Tuesday: Becoming mostly sunny. Cold. Breezy. Highs in the mid 30s.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Cold. Highs in the low 30s.
FORECAST DISCUSSION
Normal high: 46°F. Normal low: 29°F.
With the new year has come a more unsettled and wintry pattern to Delmarva.
High pressure remains in charge Thursday night which will allow for clear skies and cold overnight lows in the mid 20s. Some frost is possible by Friday morning, but there will be a little bit of a breeze overnight that should limit frost to just nuisance levels.
Friday will start off partly to mostly sunny, then clouds will increase throughout the day ahead of a clipper system that will bring our first round of some wintry weather.
This fast moving clipper system will bring what is shaping up to be several bursts of a rain/snow mix to most of Delmarva starting in the late afternoon through the evening. I'm not expecting any significant accumulations of snow or slush other than ½ to 1 inch of a slushy accumulation on grassy and elevated surfaces (think patio tables and chairs, decks, etc.). What is of more significant concern is that temperatures Friday night and Saturday morning will fall into the mid 20s, so icy conditions are possible by Saturday morning as any precipitation that fell Friday night freezes, so care will be needed if you'll be out and about early Saturday
The weekend will be bitterly cold with upper troughing digging into the Eastern United States. Under partly to mostly sunny skies, highs will only reach the mid 30s, with gusty winds. Wind chills could drop into the 20s during the day, and teens at night.
Confidence is continuing to grow that a low pressure system will exit the Tennessee Valley late Sunday and bring wintry weather to Delmarva Monday.
Confidence, however, remains low on what types of precipitation we'll see and the accumulations.
We'll likely start the storm off as snow late Sunday night. In recent model runs, though, guidance has trended a little warmer in the lower levels of the atmosphere over Delmarva, which is increasing the possibility for some rain to mix in with the snow during the day on Monday, especially on the Lower Eastern Shore and the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The most likely locations for accumulating snow will be on the Midshore and Delaware. The storm will end early Tuesday morning with precipitation possibly changing back to all snow.
The takeaway at this time for Monday is that confidence is growing that there will be a storm on Monday that will feature some kind of wintry precipitation. How much will be snow and how much will be a sloppy mix is still uncertain since Delmarva will be near the rain/mix/snow transition zone.
Keep watching this space for updates.
