Wednesday, January 19, 2005
A White Inauguration?
Dan Stillman @ 1:45 AM
If so, just barely ...
Two Alberta clippers in two days will give us a chance of snow today and tomorrow, but the prospects for significant accumulation are dim -- that is until the weekend. (Yes, I know you're itching to skip down to this weekend's potentially very interesting forecast, but resist that urge my friend. Your patience will be rewarded, I promise.)
Let's bang out today's forecast first: Another cold one in store, but at least winds will be fairly light. Temps early this morning will start out in the low-to-mid teens, and then struggle to a high in the upper 20s to near 30 under mostly cloudy skies. The first clipper reaches the area between 9 and 11 a.m. and exits by around 3 p.m., give or take an hour. I think a dusting to half-inch is possible south and east, an inch or so for the city and its close-in northern and western suburbs, and 1-3 inches well north and west. Here's the forecast in pictures:
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It seems unlikely that today's disturbance will have any impact on schools, but then again, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties imposed two-hour delays yesterday because of -- wait for it -- cold temperatures (not even record-setting, mind you). Check out what WMAL listeners had to say about yesterday's school delays (they did not approve, to say the least).
A bit warmer tonight -- lows only in the 20s. Tomorrow's clipper appears even weaker than today's ... just a chance for flurries or very light snow on Inauguration Day, with temperatures climbing into the mid-30s. Although cold and cloudy, tomorrow won't be too bad compared to some previous presidential celebrations ... Whether it's your politics, or just your desire to avoid the hassles of street closures and heightened security, maybe D.C. is the last place you want to be tomorrow. If that's the case, how 'bout a day trip to the slopes? Thanks to the recent cold snap, things are looking up at nearby ski resorts.
A quick look at area resorts:
Wintergreen Resort: 24-36 in. base, 60% open
WISP : 15-32 base, 55% open
Snowshoe Mtn : 14-24 base, 70% open
Canaan Valley : 12-24 base, 22% open
Now compare those conditions and bases to what we saw last week at this time.
And now ... the weekend snow update: There certainly is the potential for a major winter storm in the Mid-Atlantic this weekend. If everything comes together, we could be looking at an extended period of snow starting during the day on Saturday, changing to a wintry mix Saturday night, and ending as snow again on Sunday. Still too early to say exactly how much, but significant accumulations -- 6 inches or more -- are a distinct possibility. There's also plenty of time between now and then for things to fall apart, so cross your fingers snowlovers!
A couple of final notes on this busy weather Wednesday:
- Tomorrow's forecast for Crawford, Texas: Partly sunny, high in the upper 60s
- And a heads up to former KTNV (Las Vegas) weatherman Rob Blair, who received yesterday's idiot award from Jason -- CapitalWeather's fearless leader -- for "accidentally" using a racial slur in describing Martin Luther King Jr. Day (see story) ... I think the out-of-work Blair could soon have a lunch buddy -- Harvard president Lawrence Summers, who made some interesting comments regarding women and their abilities in math and science (see story).
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