Mild, sunny January days won't last
I spotted the tips of a few young flower bulbs poking through the mulch this weekend, fooled, no doubt, by the mild temperatures and warm sunshine.
But it's not springtime yet.
Forecasters out at the NWS forecast office in Sterling, Va. say today will bring us the last of the 50-degree-plus weather for this week. A weak cold front will slip through the region today, dragged along with a low-pressure system over the northern Great Lakes.
That will slide our temperatures back to the more seasonable mid-40s by Wednesday, and send overnight lows back below freezing at BWI. But there's worse to come.
After another sunny day Wednesday, light precipitation and colder air will move into the area late Wednesday into Thursday, forecasters say. The cold air will be in place Thursday, dammed up against the eastern slope of the Appalachians. Highs Thursday and Friday will hold in the 30s.
So, when another coastal low develops, it will begin to send moisture into the mid-Atlantic states, falling through the cold air at the surface to produce a cold rain from the urban corridor eastward. North and west of the cities, forecasters say, we'll likely see a wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow.
The messy weather will persist into Friday. But that will be followed by high pressure for the weekend, with mostly sunny skies on Saturday and seasonable temperatures.
(SUN PHOTO/John Makely/2000)
