What an eventful day for the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area. As of 4:52 PM EST, Reagan National Airport received about one and three-tenths inches of rainfall; something that is desperately needed for our area. Also, we were briefly under a severe thunderstorm warning here in College Park. Storms featured a few strong wind gusts, thunder, and occasional lightning. A tornado warning was even issued for parts of northern Virginia! Exercise caution against roads with high water, debris, and downed trees. Currently, beautiful sunshine is out and heavy showers have cleared out of the area. Get ready for a cool down.
Rainfall totals through this afternoon from the Reagan National Airport (DCA) Observation Station (National Weather Service)
Tonight: Ahead of the cold front, expect lightly scattered shower activity to continue throughout the evening. As the cold front slides through, cooler temperatures and drier conditions will arrive and make it feel like early March rather than early April. As winds shift to the northwest, temperatures will drop to the low 40s under cloudy skies.
The HRRR model from the UMD Trowal Website showing showers to continue throughout the evening (22Z = 6:00 PM EST)
TerpWRF model from UMD Trowal Website showing strong winds across the region tomorrow of 20-30 kts
Tomorrow (Friday) – Cool, dreary, and windy conditions will tell the story on Friday. The end of the work week will feature overcast skies along with a chance of some light showers throughout the day. Possible snow showers will pill up along the mountains to our west. Temperatures will slowly rise into the upper 40s and lower 50s by noon and eventually rise to the mid-50s by afternoon. However, temperatures will definitely feel much colder as strong northwesterly winds arrive behind the front, gusting up to as much as 35 mph during the middle part of the day. This could contribute to some small tree limbs falling down and cause some power outages.