Temps To Drop Nearly 30 Degrees: Timeline For Arctic Blast In NoVA

VIRGINIA — With Wednesday morning's light dusting of snow perhaps serving as a warning, bitter cold temperatures are on their way to Northern Virginia and D.C. later this week, with temperatures forecast to plummet into the low teens after weeks of unseasonably warm weather.

The brief but powerful surge of cold weather will be sent sharply south from the Arctic, according to AccuWeather.

"A shift of the polar vortex will be at the heart of the brief cold blast in the Northeast," AccuWeather meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.

The air will hit the region late Friday, with temperatures dropping to around 14 degrees in the closer-in suburbs of D.C. The AccuWeather "real feel" will be as low as 8 degrees in the region late Friday into early Saturday.

The differential from Thursday morning to Friday night in the region could be as much as 30 degrees. For the week, the high temperature at Reagan National Airport on Monday was 61 degrees. For Saturday, AccuWeather is forecasting a high of only 31 degrees.

"Even though the harshest cold will be felt in northern New England, areas as far south as New York City and Washington, D.C., will feel the difference," AccuWeather reported.

A storm system dropped a dusting to 1 inch across the D.C. area early Wednesday morning, mainly between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Because air and pavement temperatures were mostly at or above freezing, the snow accumulated on grass, but not on roads.

The 0.4 inches recorded at Reagan National Airport was the fifth-latest measurable snow on record for D.C., according to The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang. At Dulles International Airport, the 0.4 inches recorded was the latest measurable snow on record; the previous latest measurable snow was Jan. 27 in 2009.

Most of the snow will have melted when the frigid cold temperatures arrive on Friday night in the D.C. area, with a breeze likely sending wind chills to the single digits.

On Saturday, high temperatures will reach only into the upper 20s or low 30s, according to the Capital Weather Gang. After a cold Saturday night, the region is expected to return to above-normal temperatures on Sunday, with highs in the mid- to upper-40s.

For each day next week, temperatures are forecast to reach into the low 50s, with a chance of rain showers later in the week.

Here is the National Weather Service's D.C. area weather forecast for the next few days.

Wednesday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28.

Thursday: Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 43.

Thursday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 33. Breezy, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph.

Friday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 15.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 31.

Saturday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48.