Snow showers could impact travel Thursday morning

WASHINGTON – After the hottest November on record, December started on quite the opposite note. In fact, this is the coldest start to December in 19 years so far, dating back to 2005.

With that, we’ve had occasional snow squalls in the Washington D.C. area over the past week, but Thursday morning there’s a threat of parts of the area becoming covered quickly as a fast-moving system sweeps the northeast.

LEARN MORE: Freezing temperatures and gusty winds move into DC area; region prepares for wintry mix on Thursday

Clippers are waves of low pressure that originate in northwest Canada and ride the jet stream south toward the eastern half of the United States.

They are generally lacking in humidity because they do not have a warm body of water nearby to draw substantial moisture from.

However, they have the advantage of generally existing in an air mass that is already cold enough to support snow. Although marginal, this is generally the case for the Thursday morning event.

Thursday’s forecast is tricky, not because we’re expecting a lot of snow, but because of the type of snow we’re expecting. We are mainly expecting normal snow showers and light snow showers.

There is a touch Warmer air is also mixing at upper levels, especially around I-95 and in areas to the east, which could also lead to some mixing with snowfall. However, another threat that we are certainly monitoring is what we call a snow squall.

A snow squall is a brief, but often intense, period of snowfall that can reduce visibility to dangerous levels and even lead to minor but rapid accumulations. Sometimes called “mini blizzards,” they typically last no more than 20 to 30 minutes, but can lead to near whiteout conditions and quickly make cold roads dangerous.

They are usually located around strong fronts, and gusty winds quickly drop temperatures in their wake. They tend not However, they are widespread and generally only cause these extreme conditions in a localized manner.

In fact, we are not expecting much snow. The National Weather Service only warns of a “sparse layer” and most weather models agree.

In fact, the whole window of concern as these snow showers and squalls around the Washington DC area only occur in a very short window between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. Thursday morning.

A little sunshine should return at the end of the morning. The only major concern is timing, which focuses on most of the morning commute.

While the grains are not that’s a guarantee, if this happened during the morning rush near the ring road, things could get tricky quickly. Just one thing to keep in mind for your Thursday morning commute, you may want to allow extra time just in case!

Since the nature of snow squalls is more random, it is very unlikely that school systems will delay or cancel their activities. Even if a squall came, the snow it left behind wouldn’t be much and would probably be gone by lunchtime.

Behind this Arctic border crossing Thursday morning awaits the coldest air of this particular outbreak. Winds could gust over 45 mph Thursday afternoon as temperatures plummet.

As a result, wind advisories are possible for much of our region. Wind chills could quickly drop into the 19s and 20s, perhaps even colder by Thursday evening. Friday could be the coldest day of this entire cold snap we’re in, as many won’t get out of the 30s Friday afternoon.

We may be just under three weeks away from the winter solstice, but have you had enough of this winter chill yet? Well, there’s a very good chance we can break this cold cycle by the end of the weekend.

Computer models tend to be warmer for the first half of the next work week. Many are suggesting the lower to mid 60s will be possible by next Tuesday, although that could be accompanied by some precipitation.

Beyond that, the trend suggests a relative back and forth, shorter periods of cool temperatures with a few milder days as well, but nothing sustained at this week’s level. There is also not a high chance of significant snow in the near future at this time.