WASHINGTON, D.C. (7News) — The 7News First Alert Weather team is tracking a significant winter storm expected to impact the region Saturday evening through Sunday night. Confidence remains high that this will be a major winter storm, bringing plowable snow to many areas, with a chance of some mixing farther south.
A winter storm watch has been posted for the entire viewing area. This will likely be upgraded to a winter storm warning as the overall forecast is comes into better focus. As of this writing, there is still uncertainty in a few important details, especially how far north and west any mixing (sleet or some freezing rain) may push. Even with that uncertainty, now is the time to prepare.
The storm: Timing, snow, and the mixing concern
The prime period for widespread winter weather impacts is still expected to be late Saturday evening through Sunday night, with the heaviest snow potential focused on Saturday evening into midday Sunday.
Snow accumulation potential
Probabilities remain high for impactful snow, with much of the region seeing an 80 percent chance of five to ten inches by Monday morning.
Some forecast modeling continues to show higher amounts and will fluctuate over the next 48 hours. Odds for around a foot of snow are lower (roughly 35 to 60 percent), with the best chance favored along and west of I-95, and into parts of the northern Shenandoah Valley and the Allegheny Mountains.
Amounts can still shift depending on exactly where any mixing develops.
Where mixing is most likely
Latest guidance has nudged north and west, which increases the chance for sleet and/or some freezing rain in southern Maryland and central Virginia. The chance for a light amount of ice is currently 10 to 20 percent along I-66/US-50 and into I-95 north and east of D.C., rising to 25 to 35 percent across southern Maryland and central Virginia.
The cold: wind chills near or below zero and a frigid stretch ahead…