The National Weather Service (NWS) expanded its Winter Weather Advisory to include northwest Montgomery County as the region braces for the first widespread winter event of the season. The advisory is in effect from 3am to 1pm Tuesday, with a wintry mix expected that could cause hazardous travel conditions during the morning commute, but not much at all is expected for the immediate DC Metro area. Pencil prediction below.
According to the NWS, “a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain is expected late tonight through Tuesday morning. The greatest impacts will be along and west of US-15 and along and north of I-70. Be sure to give yourself extra time during the morning commute.”
Forecast maps show light snow accumulation primarily north and west of Montgomery County, with totals generally around one inch or less, while icing is expected to be the more significant concern. Ice accumulation of 0.01” to 0.05” is possible across much of the advisory area, including northern Montgomery County, Frederick County, and portions of northern Virginia.
The storm is expected to begin between 1am and 3am Tuesday, starting as snow in many areas before transitioning to sleet and freezing rain and then rain. Precipitation is expected to taper off between 9am and 11am. While there’s a chance that some roads might be slick in the morning, this would likely be more of an issue for counties to the north and doesn’t seem to be a major threat for the immediate metro area (it’s technically not even winter yet, so there should be plenty more to monitor for snow lovers).
While Frederick, Carroll, Washington counties in Maryland, and Loudoun County in VA might see a little more wintry precipitation, Montgomery County is likely to be affected in northern areas like Clarksburg or Damascus if anything at all. This doesn’t mean there won’t be any wintry precipitation in other parts of the county, it’s just not expected to be much and should be washed away by the rain.
Pencil Prediction: 2 Pencils ✏️✏️
View this post on Instagram
