Snow Turns to Slush

Now

Melting. Temperatures at or above freezing during much of yesterday's main event, through the overnight hours, and then emerging sunshine today have made quick work of melting the snow accumulation in the Washington metro area. Here at PM Update Central outside the Beltway in MoCo, where 5½" fell, patches of ground are already showing, especially on south-facing lawns. Highs were 40° at National, 42° at Dulles, 43° at BWI, after lows of 32° at all 3 locations.

The leftover moisture in the area, along with some upper-level energy moving nearby to the south, could produce some fog, as well as light rain showers or flurries tonight through tomorrow morning.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Some fog, chance of showers or flurries, milder. Lows tonight under variable cloudiness should range from the mid 30s downtown to the upper 20s in 'burbville. Some fog is likely to develop, and there is a 30% chance of rain showers or snow flurries through tomorrow morning. Clouds will decrease during the day tomorrow with highs in the upper 40s to 50°.

For the outlook through the rest of the week, scroll down to Jason's post below.

V-Day Storm Rated Cat 3

The Valentine's Day snow/ice storm has been given a preliminary rating of Category 3 ("major") on the new Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS). The storm was ranked as the "14th biggest impact out of a sample of 34 of the largest winter storms since 1950, and it was one of the largest winter storms to strike interior sections of the Northeast (as opposed to coastal areas) since 1950. The storm was one of the top three interior Northeast snowstorms observed since 1940."