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PM Update: Warm, windy Wednesday, with showers and storms ahead of cold front

By
February 27, 2024 at 5:05 p.m. EST
Crocuses in bloom near the National Mall. (Cathy Landry/Flickr)
2 min

* Wind advisory 6 p.m. Wednesday through 4 a.m. Thursday *

Beautiful morning sunshine gave way to a gray afternoon littered with some showers. The most consistent of this batch is done, but a shower can still pass by into tonight. Unsettled is a good word for tomorrow. Or changeable. Very warm ahead of a cold front that will pass late in the day. The front sparks some storms, causes gusty winds to shift from south to north and eventually ushers in a quick shot of cooler air.

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Through tonight: Some showers are possible this evening — probably nothing widespread. Temperatures don’t change a whole lot, with lows ending up mainly in the low and mid-50s. We can thank increased moisture levels on a gusty south wind.

View the current weather at The Washington Post.

Tomorrow (Wednesday): A shower is possible pretty much anytime, but rain odds are highest in the afternoon and evening. Much of the day is dry, which allows temperatures to reach about 70 degrees. Winds blowing around 10 to 20 mph early increase with time, gusting upward of 35 to 40 mph or so out of the south ahead of the front.

As the cold front approaches and passes, several hours of widespread showers and storms are likely. Given very strong winds a few thousand feet off the ground, any stronger activity potentially mixes down locally damaging wind gusts.

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Tree pollen: Tree pollen has spiked with this batch of warm weather, as the local area begins crossing into spring. There were 1,016 grains per cubic meter of air this morning. While spikes around now aren’t unheard of, the average for the date is about 75 grains.

Wednesday winds and storms? Several weeks from now, we may be looking at a notable severe weather threat with this storm. In this case, odds are that instability — storm juice — will be lacking, thanks mainly to the fact it is still winter. Nonetheless, it’s not impossible that a couple storms produce isolated severe wind damage or even a brief twister. Right now, the most likely window for storms locally seems like 4 to 7 p.m.

Behind the front, the National Weather Service is forecasting gusts to around 50 mph into the night. A wind advisory focuses on the period of the most intense winds, but they’ll continue into Thursday.

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