DC Weather: Snowflakes possible Friday morning as cold front moves in
WASHINGTON - A cold front moving in to the mid-Atlantic this week will bring low temperatures, strong winds and the possibility of snowflakes to the D.C. area.
Wednesday will see highs in the 60s and rain overnight ahead of a cold front moving in from the west. Thursday will see highs in the low- to mid-50s.
By Friday morning, an area of low pressure is expected to the north of the area, dumping a lot of cold air into the region, according to FOX 5 Chief Meteorologist Tucker Barnes.
"This would not be accumulating snow, I promise. But could we see some snowflakes? Maybe so, early Friday morning," said Barnes.
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Winter weather alerts issued in Northeast
Winter weather alerts have been issued from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast as the region gets set to be blasted by a powerful winter storm packing snow, heavy rain and strong winds just as millions of people prepare to travel ahead of the busy Thanksgiving holiday.
There is still a little more than a week until the peak of Thanksgiving travel, but some people have decided to hit the roads and pack airports early hoping to beat the holiday rush. That’s because AAA said a potentially record-breaking 80 million people are expected to travel more than 50 miles from home this year.
The FOX Forecast Center says a new area of low pressure has started to form across the Great Lakes region and will rapidly develop into Thursday. This follows another powerful storm that brought rain and snow to portions of the Upper Midwest earlier this week.
As the storm center drifts into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast at the end of this week, strong winds are expected to blow in cold air, supporting snow from parts of the Great Lakes region to the Ohio Valley, the northern mid-Atlantic and interior Northeast.
The FOX Forecast Center said that forecast snow totals are trending up for upstate New York and the higher terrain in Pennsylvania, so those hoping to get out of metro areas could face some tough driving conditions along Interstate 88 and Interstate 81.
This graphic shows active winter weather alerts in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. (FOX Weather)
Because of the incoming storm, several winter weather alerts have been issued from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast, including Winter Storm Watches for portions of West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for the higher elevations in West Virginia, and Winter Weather Advisories stretch from portions of Tennessee and Kentucky to New York State.
This graphic shows the forecast snow totals in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. (FOX Weather)
The highest snow totals are expected to fall in the higher elevations in West Virginia, where more than a foot of snow could fall in some spots. Computer forecast models are also showing snow in Pennsylvania and New York, where some spots could see 5-8 inches of snow with some locally higher amounts.