The warm weather basking the Washington region is expected to make way for a chilly Easter weekend.
A cold front was expected to move over the nation’s capital early today, bringing a string of showers and knocking temperatures back to the low 30s tonight before slipping to the 20s with a chance of snow Saturday.
The sharp turns are not unusual in April, said Andy Woodcock, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Arlington office.
“It’s spring,” Woodcock said. “It’s a very changing time of year.”
Temperatures climbed to the low 80s Tuesday, providing ideal weather to the crowds who strolled under the 3,000 pink and white cherry blossom trees and to the thousands of baseball fans who filed into the RFK Stadium looking for the Washington Nationals’ first win of the season.
Dulles International Airport reported a high of 81, five degrees short of the record there and 20 degrees above the norm, Woodcock said. Breezes blowing off the water kept the temperatures to 79 degrees at the official thermometer at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Thursday’s forecast calls for breezy weather, with gusts of 35 mph.
“It’ll be good for kite-flying,” Woodcock said.
A cold front battering the Midwest should make its way across Illinois today and make its presence known to the D.C. area by Friday.
A low pressure system triggered snow across the Dakotas, Upper Mississippi Valley and northern portions of the Great Lakes region.
Thunderstorms and lightning caused power outages and a flood watch in Wisconsin, where they were bracing for 10 inches of snow today.
