WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - Mother Nature sometimes comes with a funny sense of irony.
Memorial Day weekend is often considered the unofficial start of summer, with pools opening and many getting ready to wrap up the school year.
Much of the previous ten days here in D.C. has featured weather more typical of summer, including our first four 90° days of the year.
The month has also been relatively dry, with 15 straight days without measurable rain during the middle of the month.
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Hard to believe then that just in time for Memorial Day weekend, the region will be visited by several storm systems, in addition to the coolest air mass we have seen in over two weeks.
FRIDAY FORECAST:
Friday will start out warm, with a little humidity across the region. There should be some morning sunshine, before clouds will return into the afternoon.
It will be the warmest day of the long weekend, with temperatures near 80°. During the afternoon, a strong storm system will approach the region from the west.
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Storms will scatter about near the West Virginia front range during the early afternoon, moving towards the I-95 corridor by the latter half of the afternoon.
Similar to this previous Wednesday across the region, the threat for severe weather exists across the region, with the primary concerns being damaging winds and large hail. After the initial round of storms, on and off rain is expected for the remainder of Friday night right into the early hours of Saturday.
SATURDAY FORECAST:
.As the first system exits the region during the early hours of Saturday, winds will turn out of the northeast. This will bring in much cooler air, with temperatures falling into the 50s for the morning hours.
High temperatures will be their coolest since the beginning of the month, with some struggling to make it out of the 50s during the afternoon hours. A cool start to the holiday weekend.
At the same time, a second storm system will begin to develop south of our region. This will keep cloud cover over our region for the entirety of the day.
While rain is not expected to be constant, on and off light showers and drizzle should be expected throughout the day.
SUNDAY FORECAST:
Sunday is a little bit of a wild card this weekend. Earlier in the week models suggested that the storm system would exit far enough to the east that our area would see clearing skies throughout the day.
More recent guidance has suggested though that the same system that will impact our region on Saturday, will be slower to exit than expected on Sunday.
This will leave the threat for scattered showers in the forecast, particularly during the first half of the day.
For those closer to Washington, by the late afternoon and evening drier air should finally start to win out, and some late day sunshine may even break through. Temperatures will depend on just how much sun is able to filter in, but most guidance suggests another cooler afternoon in the 60s.
Eastern zones and the beaches are the ones likely to suffer the most on Sunday, as the chances for showers will be highest at the beaches as the system will be located just off the coastline.
Both Saturday and Sunday will be rough afternoons for beachgoers, as clouds will be prevalent and showers will be on and off. Both days will feature a steady breeze off the ocean, keeping the afternoons feeling cool.
Monday will be the best day for the beaches.
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND:
Regardless of how Sunday plays out, Memorial Day Monday will be the best day of the weekend.
The systems that will impact us during the weekend will exit far to the northeast. Winds will turn out of the northwest, bringing in drier air and promoting sunshine across the Mid-Atlantic region.
It will also be the warmest day of the three day weekend, with temperatures expected to rise into the 70s by the afternoon.
While it's not the 80s & 90s that our region has seen over the last week, it should still be a very nice day to hit the pool, do that family BBQ, and kick off the unofficial start of summer on a nice note.