News4’s Clay Anderson has the forecast for Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023.
The weekend will start with easy and pleasant weather for the Washington, D.C., area, but Storm Team4 is tracking another rainstorm arriving Sunday that could drop 1 to 3 inches of rain.
Everything’s coming up sunshine for Friday and Saturday. Expect cold mornings, then high temperatures in the mid-50s. It’ll be great weather for seeing holiday lights or hitting up festive pop-up bars, even as a few clouds roll in on Saturday.
Save your Hallmark movie binge for Sunday, though! And make sure that storm drains, gutters and holiday decorations are ready for the heavy rain and strong winds.
As early as sunrise on Sunday, you may hear some raindrops. A couple of showers and sprinkles aren’t out of the question throughout the morning.
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“We are in store for another real soaking of rain," Storm Team4 Meteorologist Chuck Bell said.
Sunday rainfall totals and timing
The heaviest rain will be most likely between 4 p.m. Sunday and 4 a.m. Monday.
Most of our forecast models agree that 2 inches of rain is likely. Some models are hinting rainfall could total 3 inches – but that would be highly unusual for December, Bell said.
Washington’s all-time record for daily rainfall in December is 3.1 inches.
“I don’t know if we can get all the way to the full on record, but we’ll be close. It’ll be, in all likelihood, one of the [top] five or six rainiest December days on record,” Bell said.
Whether or not any records get challenged, it will be very wet. If you had any high water issues with last Sunday's storm, be prepared for more issues with this one.
There may be a small chance for a snowflake at the end, but Storm Team4 doesn’t expect enough to cause any significant delays. It's not forecast to be like last Monday morning.
But much like last week, the storm is set to race out of the region by Monday afternoon.
10-day forecast and Christmas travel outlook
The remainder of the week is shaping up to be cold with highs in the 40s.
The early outlook for Christmas travel is good, with dry weather in the days leading up to the holiday. Christmas Eve is expected to have some sunshine and temps between 34 and 50 degrees.
