The chance of snow this Sunday depends on your weather source: The National Weather Service says there’s a 40 percent chance of precipitation, the Capital Weather Gang says there’s “just an outside chance” that snow showers “could amount to a meaningful accumulation,” and Apple’s weather app says there’s a 60 percent chance of snow, with an accumulation of one to three inches.
That’s a total cities north of this area would scoff at, but for a lot of reasons, small snowfalls here can wreak not insignificant havoc. Grocery store shelves empty, roads in some jurisdictions get plowed late if at all, and school systems sometimes shut in advance of the possibility of ice and snow.
And even though the inauguration coincides with the federal holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, a new President is still kind of a big deal for the federal government! President-elect Trump has a rally scheduled for 3 PM on Sunday, smack in the middle of when current predictions say snowfall is likely. A spokesperson for DC’s Department of Public Works says its snow team “will deploy if necessary as with any other snow event. We are still keeping our eye on the forecast but staying nimble.”
Whether or not snow falls, one weather prediction seems bankable for Monday morning: It will be very cold. The Capital Weather Gang predicts a “biting wind” and wind chills that could drop from the low teens to single digits. Greenland has a warmer forecast!
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
