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PM Update: The most intense cold is behind us; Monday could hit 40 degrees

No mistaking that it’s still chilly the next couple of nights, but we’re slowly beginning a warming trend

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C. (Ron Cohn/Flickr)
3 min

Sunshine and momentary thawing in the warmest of spots is nice. The breeze? Up for debate. The atmosphere will settle down slowly but surely tonight and keep breezes on the light side tomorrow — when we could hit 40 degrees again.

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Through tonight: It will be very cold, with low temperatures around dawn near 10 degrees to the mid-teens. The good news is that it may not feel as brutal, with breezes from the northwest, and then west by late night, calming before dawn. The skies will be mostly to fully clear, completing the recipe for effective atmospheric cooling. As Capital Weather Gang’s Molly Robey advises, “check on pets, pipes and people” with the coldest air of the season.

View the current weather at The Washington Post.

Tomorrow (Monday): Perhaps our brightest sunshine of the workweek will be Monday, even with a few mid- to late-afternoon clouds slowly building. We may start to feel more of those thawing feelings, with late-afternoon highs in the mid-30s to around 40 degrees. There will be only a slight wind chill as mainly light breezes blow. They’ll be from the south and southwest, slowly starting to bring in milder air.

Overnight, skies will be partly cloudy, with clouds more likely nearer to dawn. That’s around the same time that temperatures will bottom out around 20 degrees to the mid-20s. Keep in mind, some patches of slick ice could refreeze from daytime melt.

See Molly Robey’s forecast that runs through midweek. Come chat tonight on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and X! Our 20-minute Sunday Sunset Live Q&A will start at 5:16 p.m.

Snow so far as compared with last year; possible February chill?

Here’s a brief “sequel” to the blurb in my Saturday PM update on snow levels compared with average and February temperatures trends. Capital Weather Gang’s Ian Livingston examined snow levels so far this winter and compared them with some of our paltry snow totals from all of last winter. Will this boost the spirits of snow lovers facing our looming warming trend?

D.C. is in much better shape now than after all of last winter!

Capital Weather Gang’s Wes Junker, also with snow still on the mind, looked for a pattern switch later in February after potential, and prolonged, mild air hanging around. He found we may swing back toward a snow-conducive chill by or before Presidents’ Day (as mentioned yesterday). Weather model skill isn’t great — low confidence — looking this far out, but this is a possible atmospheric signal we need to watch as we get closer:

We’ll dive into the warming trend that’s on its way this week — and perhaps into February — tonight during our Sunday Sunset Live Q&A on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and X! Our 20-minute chat will start at 5:16 p.m.

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