The first of two cold fronts destined to sweep the warm air out of Fredericksburg is now entering the Shenandoah Valley. The small amount of rain – only a tenth of an inch or so – that will accompany it is actually behind the boundary, a type of front known as an “anafront“. Short-range models are calling for the rain to reach the ‘Burg between 3 and 4 pm today (Wednesday).
Those same models also indicate today’s temperatures will rise into the low 70s even tho’ the current NWS forecast states the upper 60s will be the maximum. Behind the front tomorrow will be sunny and much cooler with thermometers only rising to near 60 degrees. Friday will also feature sunshine with temperatures similar to Thursday. Then comes the Canadian hammerblow…
The second front heralds the arrival of an unusually deep-diving long wave trough for this time of year. The trough will (a) bring very cold air into the Southeastern states and (b) will spawn a very strong surface low pressure (another nor’easter) just off the Virginia coastline. High temperatures Saturday will thus look like this:
What is not evident on this graphic are the strong winds that will howl on the back side of the nor’easter late Saturday into Sunday. The phrase “wind chill” will likely re-enter our vocabulary this weekend. And what’s more interesting is that higher elevations in western Virginia could see snow Saturday morning.
Could white stuff occur in the ‘Burg? Not likely at this point, although the forecast could still change between now and the weekend. A very close examination might spy some fuzzy raindrops during the wee hours Saturday…but I wouldn’t bother to break out the shovels. Just dig out your heavier jackets for the weekend.
