Friday, February 25, 2005
Active times at CapitalWeather.com
Jason Samenow @ 12:39 AM
Yesterday -- what a day! Four to six inches of snow fell across the area and the site experienced record traffic as over 3,000 unique visitors stopped by and over 200 comments streamed in! And because the fun never stops at "The Power Center for DC Weather", we're licking our chops in anticipation of the next storm...Today's forecast
It's likely to be mostly cloudy when you get up and head out today, with temperatures ranging from 21-27. Expect a mix of sun and clouds in the afternoon with high temperatures of 35-39. The strong late February sun will make a dent into the fresh snow cover.
Here's a list of school closings/delays from Channel 9. For more pages with school closing information, traffic cams, and other useful links, check out WxNation's Washington, DC page. Nice resource.
The weekend forecast
Both Saturday and Sunday will feature brisk but sunny afternoons -- with highs 40-45. Morning lows will be chilly -- down to about 15-20 in the colder suburbs, 20-25 downtown. This will be an excellent weekend to hit the slopes. Most areas have some fresh powder and are operating at full capacity.
Next week's storm threat
Yes, there may be a major -- powerful storm that will move up the eastern seaboard next week (Monday-Tuesday time frame). Right now, my confidence about what happens here is low. We could see anything from a historic snowstorm to all rain. Sorry I can't be more specific, but it's the truth. Stay tuned. I'll provide updates each day during the weekend and complete storm coverage on Sunday if it's looking like a biggy.
Yesterday's storm recapCapitalWeather.com is pleased that it nailed the snow accumulation forecast for this event. Our forecast of 4-6" verified just about perfectly across the area. We were a bit surprised by some of the 6"+ totals to the south and east -- but, basically, the storm evolved just about as we anticipated. I would list out storm totals, but they are remarkably uniform (based on reports from CapitalWeather commenters and the NWS storm reports) in Fairfax, Montgomery, Loudoun, Prince William and PG Counties + the District of Columbia -- all in the 4-6" range. The outliers are mostly in Anne Arundel and St. Charles counties where there were some 6"+ totals. Washington National and Dulles Airports recorded just 3" (those numbers seem low to me, but they are "official") and BWI got 5".
Pay back
When it looked like this snow event might fizzle yesterday morning, a few commenters suggested meteorologists should be held accountable for lousy forecasts. These individuals can take comfort in the fact Moscow's mayor, Yury Luzhkov, agrees with them. See this article: Luzhkov Wants Weathermen to Pay (Moscow Times) Fortunately, given yesterday's turn of events, forecasters owe the snow skeptics "zippo."
Conversation Starter
The Washington Post's Steve Perlstein declares Washington, The Nation's Weather Wimp in his column today. Do you agree? Feel free to comment...
Photos:
- (Top right) Snow scene taken at Huntley Meadows Park by Mark Young, contributing photographer.
- (Bottom right) Snow accumulates in Oakton, Virginia where CapitalWeather.com photographer Kevin Ambrose measured 5 inches.
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