It looks like this big low that's expected to come out of the Rockies will cut north before it reaches the coast, leaving us on the warm side and the I-95 corridor dealing mostly with a sizable rain event. But forecasters still have not ruled out the possibility of some snow and ice before the whole mess turns to rain during the day.

The storm itself is expected to form out of a pair of lows now coming ashore in southern California and northern Washington state. The setup looks impressive to everybody. The problem is predicting how the lows will make their way across the country, and the impact of the cold Canadian air that will be in place in the East ahead of its arrival. 

Henry Margusity, AccuWeather's extreme weather blogger, is still holding out for a snowier outcome for the East Coast. He thinks the cold air moving in later this week will be cold enough, and stubborn enough, to give us several hours of frozen precipitation as the low moves east, even if it cuts north from the Ohio Valley toward the Great Lakes before reaching the coast. He also expects a portion of the storm's energy to be telegraphed offshore, with a secondary low forming to our east and increasing our risk of a more wintry event.

"Madman" Margusity has even posted a snow map, which gives is a couple of inches of snow and some ice before it all washes away in the rain. Most of his snow will fall to our north.

The National Weather Service, meanwhile still is talking about a 50 percent chance of precipitation, and mentions only a chance of "mix or frozen" stuff, briefly, as the storm begins. The overnight low forecast for BWI Saturday into Sunday is 30 degrees, rising to 46 during the day Sunday.

Capital Weather, down in the District, is pooh-poohing the whole thing.

And, once again, everybody is expecting much colder weather next week.