In case you missed it somehow, Washington, D.C. just experienced its first snowstorm of the year earlier this week, with about six inches of fluffy white stuff covering the capital city overnight from Sunday evening into Monday morning.
The ‘snow squall’ left plenty of snow for more than a few spectacular images and even gave many Washingtonians their first ‘Snow Day’ of the year!
Will it snow again this week in Washington, D.C.?
Now, the question that many of us seem to be wondering given the extreme weather, is if somehow even more snow is on its way to the district – and the answer… is YES!
After a major cold front blew in from Canada bringing an “Arctic Chill” to the Mid-Atlantic region, the perfect conditions were created to bring the first snowstorm of the year to the D.C. Area, but it doesn’t seem like we’ve seen the last of the white stuff as weather reports suggest another snowy day is coming later this week!
When is it going to snow in Washington, D.C. this week?
According to local meteorologists and various expert reports, Washingtonians can expect a little more than a flurry to come to town between Friday and Saturday of this week!
The exact times of the snowfall are not yet certain, but given the accuracy of the predictions we had for this past weekend’s flurries, we think it’s safe to say you can expect some snow by Friday evening!
How much is it going to snow in the D.C. Area?
Some experts are beginning to label the upcoming snowstorm heading toward the D.C. Area as a full-blown blizzard, HOWEVER, there is also an alternative weather model (called the European Weather Model to get technical) that claims the storm might be significantly weaker than some predict.
That being said, both weather reports confirm the likelihood of a snowstorm coming to the capital later this week, they just differ on the strength of said storm.
The initial weather report (which uses the American Weather Model) suggests a blizzard-level storm that could bring upwards of one foot of snow to the D.C. Area, whereas the alternative report (European Weather Model) predicts a less dramatic series of flurries that would leave only a few inches of snow behind.
In any case, there are two potential outcomes regarding snow this weekend in the D.C. Area :
- Around 8 – 12 inches of snow, maximum.
- Between 1 – 4 inches of snow, minimum.
What’s the difference between a ‘Blizzard’ and a ‘Winter Storm’?
The snowstorm that hit the District earlier this week was not a blizzard, technically it was considered a ‘Winter Storm’ and this is due to a variety of factors.
The key difference lies in one of the more dangerous factors behind a blizzard – wind speed.
A continuous snowstorm that sustains winds that reach or exceed 35 MPH for anything longer than roughly three hours is dubbed a blizzard.
The danger of blizzards lies not only with the amount of snow that they tend to bring, which is more often than not measured in feet rather than inches, but it is more so the impact on visibility.
The impact that a blizzard has on visibility can be so severe that it can even impact pedestrians, let alone drivers, making it quite easy to get lost or lose others in the typically white-out conditions that come with an active blizzard.