WASHINGTON – A mild Tuesday is ahead for the Washington, D.C. region, with a brief chance of a wintry mix or even a few snow showers arriving late Wednesday into early Thursday.

What we know:

Tuesday starts cold, with temperatures in the 30s, but the day stays dry and warms into the low 50s with some afternoon sunshine.

Isolated showers move in Wednesday morning and linger at times throughout the day. FOX 5’s Taylor Grenda says colder air rushing into the region Wednesday into early Thursday could briefly flip that rain to a wintry mix or some light snow showers.

Any mix is expected to be brief and minimal. Snow chances should clear by early Thursday, leaving behind cold, blustery and dry conditions for the rest of the day.

What’s next:

Friday turns sunny but very cold, with highs only in the mid 30s. Saturday stays dry, and there’s a slight chance of snow showers returning on Sunday.

D.C.’s thriving restaurant scene took a big hit in 2025, and the head of the city’s restaurant association is warning that 2026 could be another rough year.

A record number of eateries in the city shut down last year, according to the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. President Shawn Townsend said 92 restaurants closed in 2025, up from 73 in 2024, and almost double the number of closings in 2022.

He said it’s no secret why 2025 was such a bad year.

“Tariffs and inflation and other things that impact the industry — the federal workforce, the increase in law enforcement presence,” he said.

Townsend said in order to right the ship for the restaurant industry, the priority of city and government leaders must be to create new jobs in D.C.

“If we don’t find things to replace those bodies, that foot traffic cannot come back,” he said.

Restaurants openings have also slowed, down 30% in 2025, and Townsend said there will likely be fewer openings than normal in 2026. He said the restaurants that do open will not be what we’ve been used to in the thriving D.C. food scene.

“We’ll be seeing less full-service restaurants. It’s that middle market that’s being squeezed right now, and I think if things don’t change, we’ll continue to see that middle market vanish,” Townsend said

Townsend said getting a great meal in D.C. has never been a problem and is hopeful that innovation allows that to continue.

“We’ve got to figure out how to adapt, we’ve been good at adapting for so long. I think this is just one other phase where we all have to figure out how to move forward,” Townsend said.

But Welch and Palka aren’t fire-and-brimstone populists. They are careful. Disciplined. They speak moderation while building something more durable: nurturing a generation of young conservatives who will carry their teachings into agencies, congressional offices, the judiciary, and a returning Republican administration.

So does King’s function as a soft-power pipeline for young conservatives in Washington? Its leaders bristle at the suggestion.

“We have nothing to do with getting people jobs…. We have never, ever, ever done that,” says Palka. “I do think it could be a by-product, though.”

“Part of the Christian faith is that we don’t compartmentalize it,” says Welch. “So we want people to see that it does influence [your career], just like how your faith influences your family, your relationships, your kids, so that’s just natural to how the church operates—it’s not like this is the goal.”

King’s has done 250 baptisms in eight years. Palka jokes more than once that I could be baptized at their next ceremony. When I ask how long it takes to join the church, he smiles: “It could take 15 minutes, it could take 15 years.”

He believes Gen Z is drawn not to megachurch gimmicks like slingshots and zip-lining pastors but to ancient ritual. King’s recites the Nicene Creed weekly, rare among evangelical churches. Members must affirm nine core beliefs: God as Father, Son, Holy Ghost; Jesus fully God and fully human; born of a virgin; lived without sin; died; rose again; and will return to judge the living and the dead. Scripture is final. The church must carry out Christ’s mission until he returns.

“They’re looking to retrieve some of those anchors that have been lost,” Palka says. “That is something the young people are flocking to—the high church liturgy.”

Space, not attendance, is King’s real problem. Expansion plans to cities like Paris and Berlin are on hold until they secure a permanent space in DC, and they need money. Their flock consists largely of interns and junior staffers, earnest but broke.

Palka knows that securing a physical home would give King’s another ring of relevance, one more proof point that the church can be an institution.

“We thought we’d have a building by now,” says Palka. “You can hit up a denomination for funding, but this capital campaign, it’s been very slow.”

Worshippers show up a half hour early to claim seats, and some longtime congregants have grumbled about the intern influx. One faction, calling itself “King’s Church Members Take a Stand,” lines the back wall to save room for newcomers.

They launched with a $50,000 loan from the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board—small by megachurch standards but enough to launch a movement. “I would love if we had a building of our own one day,” Palka says. “All the statistics say it gives the Church credibility, it makes it more real in people’s eyes when you see that it’s their location.”

Robertson, the 26-year-old running the intern ministry, may be one of the church’s most influential figures. “It’s a really interesting city,” he says. “The fact that 25-year-olds kind of run the government.” He is, in effect, their shepherd.

Conservatism Inc.

For interns living on stipends, King’s offers free lunches, Nationals tickets, and speaker events featuring K Street veterans, senior aides, operatives, and even a Fox News producer. There are mixers too, where future staff assistants meet future legislative directors.

For the Republican Party, that makes King’s more than a church. It’s a long-term investment.