D.C.-area forecast: A wind-chilled Saturday leads to the coldest night of winter.

A somewhat subjective rating of the day’s weather, on a scale of 0 to 10.

3/10: More cold wind. Just what I was hoping to avoid!

Express forecast

Today: Mostly sunny. Breezy. Highs: Near 30 to the mid-30s.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows: Midteens to low 20s.
Tomorrow: Increasing clouds. Highs: Mid-30s to near 40.

Forecast in detail

Wind chills in the teens this morning don’t climb far or fast today. Thankfully, we should see a good deal of sunshine. As the sun goes down, what could be the coldest temperatures of winter are settling in for the night. The climb out of the cold is slow through the early week, but it does seem like we’ll get there eventually.

Today (Saturday): It’s the kind of day you’ll want to walk on the sunny side of the street. And even that may not fully get you where you want to be comfort-wise. We should see more sunshine than not. Some cloudier moments may be had in the midday or afternoon. Highs are quite cold, with readings mainly failing to top freezing near and west of Interstate 95. A few degrees milder is possible to the east. With winds out of the northwest, gusting to 30 mph, it’s feeling about 10 degrees colder. Confidence: Medium-High

Tonight: We’ll try for coldest night of the winter. Skies are mainly clear and winds turn somewhat lighter. A little bit of snowpack should help get readings into the midteens to near 20. In Washington, if it drops below 23, it’s the coldest night of winter The last time it got to 22? Feb. 03, 2019. This is the longest streak without readings that cold on record. Dulles and Baltimore have only made it to 19 this winter, as well. Confidence: Medium-High


Tomorrow (Sunday): A very crisp start, but the sun goes to work as soon as it rises. By midmorning, we’re pushing past freezing and toward highs in the mid-30s to around 40. Winds are much lighter, which makes a big difference by late February as the sun’s power increases. Confidence: Medium-High

Tomorrow night: Clouds tend to thicken through the night. It’s seasonably chilly, with lows in the upper 20s to lower 30s. Confidence: Medium

A look ahead
The pattern can’t stop and won’t stop, or at least that’s how it feels again on Monday. Snow, rain or some other kind of wintry mix is possible. Most or all of it should be light. For now, it seems that temperatures at the ground level will be a bit too warm for it to matter much. Temperatures head for at least 40, if not the mid-40s. Confidence: Medium

We get a break in the action Tuesday. It’s the last day with normal daytime lows at or below freezing in D.C. of the winter, and we’ll be right around that in the morning. Otherwise, skies are partly to mostly sunny, as readings rise to the upper 40s and lower 50s. Confidence: Medium

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/02/20/dc-area-forecast-wind-chilled-saturday-leads-coldest-night-winter/?