Washington, D.C. is bracing for a potentially dangerous outbreak of severe weather on Monday, as a powerful storm system sweeps across much of the Eastern United States.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys warned of “successive punches of snow, wind and severe weather” that are “going to impact the eastern half of the United States.”
He added, “whether it’s wind gusts from a squall line, blizzard or snow, or just wind because of the storm, you’re looking at several major airports being impacted.”
The Storm Prediction Center has placed the D.C. region under a Moderate Risk (level 4 out of 5) for severe thunderstorms, a classification that is considered rare for the area.
This elevated alert signals a heightened chance of damaging winds, large hail, heavy rainfall that could lead to flooding, and even some tornadoes, though tornadoes are not expected to be the dominant threat.
WTOP meteorologist Mike Stinneford explained that the models have been consistent in pointing to this setup.
“It basically tells us that the models had a pretty good idea that we were going to see an outbreak of severe weather on Monday afternoon,” Stinneford said.
The day could feature multiple rounds of storms. Stinneford noted that discrete supercells might develop as early as noon to 2 p.m., particularly across the western suburbs. These could bring isolated severe hazards before giving way to a more organized threatline.
“I do believe this is going to affect the metro area right around the first part of the rush hour on Monday afternoon,” Stinneford said. “This squall line may produce damaging winds, large hail and even some tornadoes.”
The primary concern arrives with a strong squall line expected to push into the metro area between 2 and 5 p.m.
“Especially the first part of the rush hour, we may see some really negative impacts, some high winds, some hail, the risk of tornadoes and also some very heavy rainfall may cause some flooding on area roadways,” he said.
The severe weather threat is expected to wind down by Monday night, though lingering showers could mix with wet snow as temperatures drop into the 30s. Sunshine should return on Tuesday, but it will feel blustery and cold through Wednesday, before a warmup pushes highs into the mid-50s by Thursday.
Is White House under tornado warning?
Amid circulating reports on social media, some users claimed the White House was under a tornado warning as of Sunday evening. However, no such warning was in effect for the Washington, D.C. area, including the White House vicinity, as of 6 p.m. EDT Sunday.
