Winter is taking its first shot at the D.C. area on Saturday. It’s expected to be a mixed bag that will bring messy weather around sunrise. Here’s everything you need to know.
Winter is taking its first shot at the D.C. area on Saturday. It’s expected to be a mixed bag that will bring messy weather around sunrise.
Here’s what you need to know.
WTOP meteorologist Mike Stinneford said to expect a little snow and a lot of rain.
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He said a new computer model is bringing a whole lot of warm air and a whole lot of moisture “at the upper levels.”
“That’s going to change over any snow or sleet that moves in to rain fairly quickly,” Stinneford said.
A Winter Storm Warning remains for Washington, Frederick and Carroll counties from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. And there is also a Winter Weather Advisory along and west of Interstate 95 — but it does not include D.C.
Stinneford said those could change overnight and into the morning “as some of the new guidance is really knocking down the snow levels across the region.”
But, he cautioned, it’s possible the region will see some snow and sleet Saturday morning, with mainly rain across southern Maryland. Either way, it will change over to rain “fairly quickly” from south to north.
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“Any chances of any accumulation of snow, which will only be about one to two inches, will be near the Blue Ridge and also near the Pennsylvania border,” Stinneford said.
He said to be on the lookout for slick spots on the roads in the morning and afternoon.
Tonight’s forecast features seasonably cool temperatures and increasing clouds. A wintry mix will overspread the area from south to north. The main impacts should focus well to the north and west of the I-95 corridor where the subfreezing air will linger. #MDwx#VAwx#DCwx#WVwxpic.twitter.com/MxRreemSGU
Despite the increased chance of rain by the middle of Saturday, a couple of state agencies were out since early Friday morning, pretreating the roads to prevent the precipitation from bonding with the road.
“We have our team in place, we’re ready to roll and we’ll be in there tomorrow morning before any precipitation even starts,” Charlie Gischlar, from the Maryland State Highway Administration, told WTOP.
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Gischlar also recommends doing your best to stay home if possible because more people on the roads could hinder the road crews’ ability to clear the asphalt.
“The more traffic we’re in with our crews and our contracting partners, the less efficient we can be. So if we’re out there unencumbered, we can get more pavement clear in a more timely manner,” he said.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has been out on the roads as well.
“Our crews have been out brining since midnight this morning,” department representative Ellen Kamilakis said.
She told WTOP that the department plans to have 780 trucks out in the region, “but obviously based on the forecast, we’re heavily focused on Loudoun County.”
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D.C. is also preparing for the storm.
At 9 a.m. on Saturday, the District Snow Team — including nearly 150 heavy plows to treat highways, streets, bridges and other elevated structures and 87 light plows for smaller streets — will deploy, according to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office.
Other impacts
Fairfax County Public Schools has canceled all of its Saturday activities ahead of the expected storm. That includes:
Extracurricular activities
Interscholastic contests
Team practices
Field trips
Professional learning and training courses
In-person Adult and Community Education (ACE) classes, recreation programs and community use by outside groups not affiliated with FCPS.
CURRENT CONDITIONS
FULL FORECAST
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR WASHINGTON, FREDERICK, AND CARROLL COUNTIES IN MARYLAND FROM 10 a.m. TO 10 p.m. SATURDAY.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ALONG AND WEST OF I-95. DOES NOT INCLUDE THE DISTRICT. ADVISORY RUNS FROM 7 a.m. TO 10 p.m.
EARLY SATURDAY MORNING: Mostly cloudy. Lows in the 20s suburbs, 30 near the District.
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LATER SATURDAY: Snow and sleet developing from southwest to northeast. Mainly rain over southern Maryland. Snow and sleet will change over to rain along and east of I-95 by mid- to late morning, with only minor accumulations. Snow over the far northern and western suburbs may accumulate 1 to 3 inches, with locally higher amounts near the Pennsylvania border and the Blue Ridge. Snow will change over to sleet/rain far northern and western suburbs in the afternoon. Highs in the 30s
SUNDAY: Partly sunny and breezy. Highs in the lower 40s.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny. Highs mid 40s
TUESDAY: Rain and a risk of thunderstorms. Damaging wind gusts are possible. Highs in the mid-50s.
WTOP’s Christopher Thomas and Kate Corliss contributed to this report.
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Associated Students of GCU President Judah Floyd (left) and Vice President Gracie Zimbardi (right) participated in a workshop with Arizona Congressman Eli Crane at the Campus Victory Forum conference in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., has been a popular spot this summer, especially since it’s the nation’s 250th anniversary. And it’s where many Grand Canyon University students have traveled, including the campus’s student body leaders.
Associated Students of GCU President Judah Floyd and Vice President Gracie Zimbardi traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Campus Victory Forum conference and celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence.
“It was a humbling opportunity to be able to represent GCU and be poured into by so many admirable Christian leaders,” Floyd said. “It reminds me of the leader I want to be as a Christ follower and as someone who’s been put in a position to have influence on the students of GCU.”
Outside of conference sessions, Judah Floyd and Gracie Zimbardi explored Washington, D.C.
The three-day conference was organized by Campus Victory, an organization empowering collegiate leaders to step into civic engagement. It featured workshops, sessions and activities that equipped students with practical tools to step into their leadership roles.
Roughly 250 student leaders from universities all around the country traveled to the nation’s capital for the conference, where they met and heard from politicians and community leaders, including U.S. Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona.
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He addressed the young crowd with a personal testimony about his experience in public leadership and gave an empowering message from 1 Timothy 4:12, which reads, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
He encouraged students to boldly press on in their positions despite their young age.
Sharing a home state with Crane was made extra special to Floyd and Zimbardi when Crane invited all Arizona students backstage to meet and have conversations with him.
“He was phenomenal,” Zimbardi said. “He talked about how being firm in our faith is so important in this time, and though we are young leaders, we do have the knowledge, experience and people to look up to, so use it. It was so inspiring to hear from him.”
Gracie Zimbardi (left) displayed her patriotism with student leaders from other universities.
When sessions concluded, students explored significant landmarks, including memorials, museums, and federal and local government buildings.
Everything was decked out in red, white and blue, with flags and banners hanging everywhere to commemorate the milestone anniversary.
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Celebratory events unfolded one after another on Independence Day, finishing with the largest fireworks show in history. Some 850,000 pyrotechnic effects were detonated over 40 minutes, with thousands gathered for the once-in-a-lifetime event.
Floyd waited five hours in line to attend Salute to America 250, which concluded yearlong celebratory festivities. The six-hour event on the National Mall featured presidential remarks, musical performances and military flyovers.
While in Washington, D.C., Judah Floyd (center) met with other student leaders.
“President Donald Trump talked about how America is really a land of people of faith and people who overcome challenges time after time,” Floyd said. “It really rekindled in us the spirit of liberty that we all carry as Americans and the importance of defending that liberty for generations to come.”
Military veterans were brought onstage and honored for their commitment to serving the country. Flags from every generation of America were displayed, and singer Lee Greenwood led the crowd in singing “God Bless the U.S.A.”
The World Cup was happening at the same time. While Floyd and Zimbardi were in Washington, D.C., they witnessed another level of patriotism when a Team USA vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina watch party, complete with a projector screen, was organized in front of the U.S. Congress.
“Thousands of people all wearing U.S.A. jerseys were shouting and screaming and spraying water in the sky when we scored a goal. It was deafening,” Floyd said.
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Judah Floyd and Gracie Zimbardi celebrated the Fourth of July in Washington, D.C., with student leaders from around the country.
As the start of academic year approaches, Floyd and Zimbardi’s tenure as student body president and vice president will soon commence.
The duo said that participating in the Campus Victory Forum conference, networking with student body presidents and vice presidents from other universities, and witnessing everyone’s patriotism prepared them to lead with passion and boldness.
“It means a lot to me that someone in this organization thought of us, GCU, and said, ‘We need them there.’ Zimbardi said. “It was really unique hearing from other students about how they do things at other universities.
“We got to sit down and spitball back and forth. We talked about things like, ‘Wow, that’s what works for you? We are struggling in that area, do you mind if we try it?’ Having conversations like that is extremely helpful, and it is cool how unified we can all become.”
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Dozens of Iowa National Guard soldiers leaving Iowa today will spend the next six months serving in Washington, D.C..
Last August, President Trump issued an executive order declaring there was an epidemic of crime in the nation’s capitol and he immediately mobilized National Guard troops from the District of Columbia. The Pentagon then started asking state guard units to deploy to D.C. and made a request of Governor Kim Reynolds last year. “They asked earlier and I said no because we had one of the largest deployments that we’ve had for a long, long time and I just felt we were stretched pretty thin,” Reynolds said.
In May of last year, nearly 2000 Iowa National Guard soldiers were deployed to the Middle East. The final group of those soldiers returned to Iowa last month. Reynolds said the Pentagon “circled back” recently and asked her to send a group of Iowa Guard soldiers to D.C. and she’s deployed 120 Iowa Guard soldiers to D.C. “to ensure the safety and security” of people who are in the nation’s capitol, “especially with everything that’s going on with the 250th birthday of our country,” Reynolds said, “and so we were able to participate and do our share.”
Reynolds told reporters the federal government will pay the entire cost of the deployment. Reynolds will speak this morning at a private send off ceremony for the Iowa Guard soldiers before they leave for D.C. There were over 5000 National Guard troops in Washington this past Sunday, including 185 from Nebraska and over 100 from Minnesota.
DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau) — One hundred and twenty members of the Iowa National Guard are leaving Friday for Washington, D.C., where they will assist with security measures and America 250 celebrations at the request of the Trump administration.
Reynolds initially said no
Gov. Kim Reynolds said she had previously declined the Trump administration’s request, citing the strain of one of the state’s largest recent deployments.
“They asked earlier, and I said no because we had one of the largest deployments that we’ve had for a long, long time and I just felt that we were stretched pretty thin,” Reynolds said.
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Nearly 2,000 Iowa National Guard members had spent a year or more deployed to the Middle East. Those soldiers have since returned home.
Guard members now available following Middle East return
With those troops back, Reynolds said Iowa was in a position to fulfill the president’s request.
“We have them all back. They circled back, especially with everything that’s going on with the 250th uh birthday uh of our country. And so we were able to participate and do our share,” Reynolds said.
Different states have sent National Guard members to Washington, D.C., since last August.
Reynolds said the federal government will pay the costs of Iowa’s deployment to Washington, D.C.
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