The Dry Slot

Well, as the transfer of energy between the low out west and the low off the coast happened overnight, some dry air began to intrude into northern Virginia and the DC metro area.  Very early this morning, that caused snow to temporarily decrease in intensity.  Meteorologists refer to this as a "dry slot".

The dry air never really made it much further north and as a result, the snow totals in the DC area this morning range from 14-19 inches whereas in Baltimore they have already seen 2 feet and in Columbia, MD they are reporting 28 inches.

Snow continues to fall and will continue for most of the daylight hours into the evening tonight as the main surface low pulls away from the coast and the upper level lows rotate through the region.  Today's snow would be a normal "big" snow for DC - probably 4-8 inches of accumulation on top of whatever you have already seen.

For us, that's 17 inches and counting!  Measurement is becoming difficult as the winds have picked up and snow is blowing everywhere.