Washington, D.C., is bracing for a potentially dangerous outbreak of severe weather as a powerful storm system sweeps across much of the eastern United States on Monday.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Royce warned that “continuous snowfall, high winds and severe weather” will “impact the eastern half of the United States.”
He added, “Whether it’s gusty winds from the squall line, blizzards or snow, or just winds from the storm, you’re going to see several major airports being impacted.”
The Storm Prediction Center has classified the Washington area as being at moderate risk (Category 4 out of 5) of severe thunderstorms, a classification considered rare in the region.
The upgraded warning indicates that damaging winds, large hail, heavy rainfall could lead to flooding and there is a greater chance of some tornadoes, but tornadoes are not expected to be a major threat.
WTOP meteorologist Mike Stinneford explained that the models consistently pointed to this setup.
“It’s basically telling us that the models are pretty clear that we’re going to see an outbreak of severe weather on Monday afternoon,” Steenford said.
There may be multiple rounds of storms throughout the day. Stinneford noted that discrete super cells could form as early as noon to 2 p.m., particularly in the western suburbs. These can pose serious dangers in isolation and then form more organized threat lines.
“I do believe this will impact the metro area around the first half of Monday afternoon’s rush hour,” Stingford said. “This squall line could produce damaging winds, large hail, and even some tornadoes.”
Most concerning, a strong squall line is expected to move into the metro area between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
“Especially in the lead-up to peak time, we could see some real negative impacts, some high winds, some hail, risk of tornadoes and some very heavy rainfall that could cause flooding on regional roads,” he said.
The threat of severe weather is expected to abate by Monday night, but lingering showers could mix with wet snow as temperatures drop into the 30s. Sunshine should return on Tuesday, but winds and chills will remain throughout Wednesday, with temperatures rising into the 50s by Thursday.
Has the White House received a tornado warning?
In reports circulating on social media, some users claimed White House A tornado warning was in effect as of Sunday evening. However, as of 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, the Washington, D.C., area, including near the White House, had not received such a warning.
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