The first snow of the season...

The first snow of the season materialized across Central and Northern Virginia earlier today. The Metro Richmond area saw a dusting in places, with no accumulation to the south and more to the north. Some tallies included 1 inch in Harrisonburg and Lovingston (Nelson Co.), a little over 2 inches in Madison and Page Counties, to up to 4 inches in Fairfax and Arlington Counties up near D.C. Any flurries will quickly taper off, but the chill will remain the next couple of days. Temperatures will be well below average Thursday, near 40 degrees...then rise to near 50 on Friday.

The warm-up begins this weekend...

As warmer air surges north toward us, we'll be dealing with more clouds Friday and Saturday, and possibly a few showers (mainly to the west of the Metro Richmond area). Temperatures will be on the rise, and we should see readings surpass 60 degrees on Sunday.

Very warm at least half of next week...

We could flirt with record highs Monday and Tuesday, with readings at least close to 70 degrees. A cold front will lurk to the northwest and the amount of cloud cover will determine how high we get on the thermometer. This front probably won't sink through Central Virginia until at least Wednesday. It should bring some showers, followed by cooler air next Thursday and Friday (daytime temps in the low 50s).

For the record...

Record highs at RIC early next week include:
Monday 12/10 75 degrees, set in 1966
Tuesday 12/11 72 degrees, set in 1971
Wednesday 12/12 76 degrees, set in 1931

My 7th Annual Winter Outlook IS coming...

This looks to be a winter dominated by La Nina, which could provide some very mild weather in January...but don't count out snow chances. My winter outlook will be posted on my main web page, http://www.mike-goldberg.com/, later Friday. I also provide regular forecast updates on the page, so check it out.