Winter’s first blast: What Saturday’s storm has in store for the DC area – WTOP News

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.

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.

“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.

Road crews prepare

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.

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.”

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.

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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