DELMARVA FORECAST
Wednesday night: Increasing clouds. Lows in the upper 20s.
Christmas Day: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers in the morning. Breezy. Highs in the low 50s. Chance of rain 30 percent.
Friday: Mostly cloudy with rain in the afternoon and evening, possibly with wintry mix or sleet, especially north. Highs in the upper 30s. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent, mainly in the evening and overnight.
Saturday: Rain or wintry mix early, then mostly cloudy. Highs in the upper 40s. Chance of rain 40 percent.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy. Highs in the upper 40s.
Monday: Mostly cloudy. Scattered showers. Highs in the low to mid 50s.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny and cold. Highs in the mid 30s.
FORECAST DISCUSSION
Normal high: 48°F. Normal low: 30°F.
Merry Christmas!
Weather on Delmarva is shaping up to be quiet as we look ahead to Santa's visit to our pleasant peninsula.
Christmas Eve will see increasing clouds, but light winds. Lows will be seasonable, in the upper 20s.
On Christmas Day, an impulse of energy in northwesterly flow will bring a chance of mainly light rain showers to Delmarva in the morning. With some evaporative cooling, we could see some wet snowflakes mixed in with the rain, but no accumulations are expected, especially given that moisture will be rather limited. It will turn breezy, though, with southerly winds shifting to the west during the day, with gusts up to 25 mph possible.
The big headline for the rest of this week will arrive on Friday afternoon as yet another impulse of energy brings more widespread precipitation to Delmarva Friday afternoon through Saturday morning. Confidence is slowly growing that we will see some wintry weather on Delmarva. The Maryland Midshore and Delaware will be the most likely to see sleet or freezing rain. Snow is not likely, given a layer of warm air a few thousand feet above the ground. South of Salisbury, neighbors are more likely to just see plain rain, although we don't want to rule out some wet snow or sleet.
Travel conditions could be dangerous, especially overnight Friday into Saturday if you're headed north toward Wilmington and beyond.
The weekend will be mainly quiet. Rain and wintry mix could linger into early Saturday, otherwise skies will be mostly cloudy with seasonable temperatures in the upper 40s Saturday, and low 50s on Sunday.
A strong cold front will bring a chance of rain showers Monday, followed by cold and blustery conditions to wrap up the year.
In the long range, temperatures are expected to average below normal, and precipitation below normal for December 31 - January 6.