Friday Morning Snow Update for Sunday-Tuesday
For now, all models seem to be on board with a significant snow storm for our area.
The GFS (American model), Euro (European model), and UKMET (United Kingdom’s model) are all depicting what looks to be a disruptive snow storm.
Below you’ll see the GFS and Euro snowfall projections for Sunday and Monday, courtesy of Howard Bernstein of WUSA9.
It’s interesting that both models are currently showing more snow for areas closer to DC than areas in upper MoCo, but both models are showing a range of about 8-10” for the county.
We are within 72 hours now, so we will likely start to see actual forecasts from our local news stations. Those will likely come out after today’s model runs this afternoon.
Our featured photo shows a conservative projection of 4-6” by the National Weather Service. If today’s runs stay the course, we expect to see their map change. Why are they going so conservative? Our best guess is that people take it a little better when more snow is added rather than when it is taken away…but there’s still time for this to change.
The way is stands now, snow is expected to enter our area Sunday morning. We should see some heavy bursts that drop a few inches (3-5” looks about right for now). There’s a chance things change over to sleet or freezing rain in the evening…even a chance of things stopping.
At that point we wait and see if the coastal low takes over and how fast it occurs. If it happens faster, then we will likely see snow start again and continue through Monday– giving us the higher totals.
ABC 7’s graphic shows high confidence in that initial snowfall on Sunday and lower confidence in Monday’s potential.
We’ll have an update for you later this afternoon, likely with first calls from across the area.
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2 comments
Who cares. Still have to go to school.
Actually, the NWS is going “conservative” because it only predicts 1-day at a time, not for the entire two-days. The 4-6″ swath is really for Sunday and Sunday night only. Models have shifted the snow slightly more to the north and east as well.