Winter ends warm, peak bloom brings in Spring
WASHINGTON - May good fortune be with you on this St. Patrick's Day! Sadly our fortunes are not so great weather wise, as Thursday will actually be the worst weather day of this week, with temperatures about 10-15 degrees cooler than Wednesday. We will spend the afternoon hours mostly in the 50s and 60s with clouds and rain on and off. Rain may be the heaviest around and just after the lunchtime hours, as a wave of low pressure passes to our southeast.
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By the evening commute hours, the storm should start to pull away and the region should begin to dry out. Skies may even clear just before sunset Thursday night, allowing a bit of sunlight to grace our skies before day's end. We actually turned a bit of a corner in terms of daylight Thursday, as it is our first day of the year with more than 12 hours of daylight! The sun sets this evening at 7:17pm. Friday will be a much nicer and much warmer day, with temperatures in the mid 70s. Rain may return to the area during the late evening hours Friday.
Saturday is the last full day of winter, and it is somewhat ironic that it will also be the warmest day of the week. Partial sunshine will allow temperatures to approach 80 degrees in a few locations. However, a storm system passing to our northwest will pull a cold front through our region during the afternoon, and with the warmth of the day, a few scattered showers and thunderstorms could fire in the afternoon.
A few of these storms could be severe, with the best chances for thunderstorms being in the 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. window on Saturday afternoon. The main threat of the storm would be some isolated damaging wind gusts, but chances are higher that the worst of the weather on Saturday stays much farther to our south and east. The cold front swings through on Saturday evening and will usher in some cooler air for our first official day of Spring on Sunday, but there should be plenty of sunshine! The Spring Equinox occurs officially at 11:33am!
With the very warm start to the month of March (we are running an average of 3.5 degrees above normal this month) the cherry blossoms have been off to a strong start. Peak bloom is expected next week, beginning on Tuesday, The best days to view the cherry blossoms will likely be during the early part of the week, as temperatures will be pleasantly warm with a good amount of sunshine. By the middle of next week, a storm system will likely approach from the south, bringing us showers or perhaps a steady rain during Wednesday or Thursday. The late week looks a little cooler and windy. But all things considered, the overall forecast looks good for the health of the cherry blossoms heading into next week.
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