Snow squalls likely on Friday, with plowable snow expected on Monday

On Friday, a clipper system will bring an area of snow showers and snow squalls to our area. These will be narrow and short lived, but could be impactful. In some areas NW of I-95, a coating to as much as 2" of snow is possible under the snow squalls (This wont happen everywhere). Most, if not all of this accumulation would be on elevated or grassy surfaces, but we cant rule out a few roads having some slick conditions due to a slushy coating. 

The timing is what is the problem, as its most likely to occur from 1pm-7pm, impacting the evening commute. Snow squalls can also produce brief whiteout conditions in heavy snow, so visibility may be reduced for a short period of time. If the snow squalls are particularly intense, then snow squall warnings may be required. 

For Monday, there is high confidence (>80% chance area wide) of accumulating snow. Snow will begin late Sunday evening/overnight and last until at least Monday afternoon. During this time, temperatures at the surface will be at or below freezing, so snow will stick to any untreated surface. For areas along and north of US.50, precipitation as of now looks to stay all snow. Areas south of there will probably mix with sleet or freezing rain. A shift in the track north or south could still occur, and will change the precipitation types so we will monitor for shifts. 

It is still too early to go into specific amounts (we will release a first call midday on Friday), but we can start looking at where the heaviest accumulation may be. Right now, that looks to be across central and northern MD, between DC and the MD/PA state line. This is where we are most likely to see winter storm warning level snow, which is 5 or more inches in 48 hours. Outside of that dark blue zone, light to moderate accumulations are still likely. 

This likely will be impactful, and it seems more probable that schools will be impacted on Monday. If you have travel plans on Monday, I would consider changing them. Whatever does fall probably will stick around for a while as we enter a very cold pattern after this system passes.