Clouds, showers Wednesday with highs near 80 degrees; fall begins this afternoon

(FOX 5 DC) - Today, we await a strong and slow cold front that looks to produce heavy downpours and a few inches of rain, especially across the mountains.

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A Flash Flood Watch is in effect for the next 24 hours for western suburbs including Frederick, Western Loudoun, Northern Fauquier, and points west of these counties to Western Maryland and the West Virginia border. 

It stays humid across the metro with temperatures near 80 as we await the arrival of the rain later today.

 Later tonight, overnight and into Thursday midday the bulk of this rain will cross the metro area but until then we only expect a few showers under cloudy skies.  

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We may also see thunderstorms in the mix later tonight and overnight so the Thursday morning commute may be impacted by heavy rain.

By Friday behind the frontal boundary, we expect the sun to return along with cooler afternoon temperatures in the low 70s.