Fairfax County Braces for Possible Snow

The D.C. metropolitan area could potentially get its biggest snowfall in two years starting on Sunday (Jan. 31), The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang predicts.

The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook for the region at 10:49 a.m. today. While Northern Virginia is not under a gale warning like Maryland, the agency warns that “there is an enhanced winter storm threat for Sunday and Sunday night, with a slight winter storm threat Monday and Monday night.”

“If the threat materializes, it may cause travel disruptions,” the NWS said.

The current forecast for the Tysons area suggests Saturday night will see clouds set in with a 30% chance of snow or other precipitation after 4 a.m. Chances of precipitation go up to 100% on Sunday, when snow is expected to start falling before 4 p.m. with some freezing rain possibly mixed in.

The NWS forecast suggest snow could continue through Monday with the chance of precipitation still at 50% that night.

As of 9:57 a.m. today, the D.C. area was expected to get three to four inches of snow between 7 p.m. on Saturday and 7 a.m. on Monday.

However, the Capital Weather Gang says this is a “complicated” storm, where total accumulation could vary from two to 12 inches depending on whether a coastal storm forms off the North Carolina coast and brings a second wave on Monday.

In preparation for the weekend, Virginia Department of Transportation crews have been treating roads in Fairfax County and elsewhere in Northern Virginia over the past two days.