Hurricane Florence’s presence is being felt in DC, but it’s subtle

WASHINGTON — The D.C. region escaped most of Florence during the weekend, with the storm parking itself over the Carolinas — although some rain isn’t out of the question early this week.

Sick of the cloudy weekend? Blame Florence. “When you go outside … and look up, those clouds are a direct result of the hurricane,” said Storm Team4 Meteorologist Chuck Bell.

Florence might be weakening, but it’s still a huge system with a cloud canopy stretching for hundreds of miles.

“We’re on the far northern extent of the cloud shield right now,” Bell said. “And underneath there, we are getting periods of mist and drizzle and a pocket of light rain every here and there.”

Hurricane Florence — Outside of disastrous flooding in the Carolinas, Florence had wide-reaching effects throughout the southeast coast — though D.C. dodged the worst of it. (Courtesy Tropical Tidbits/Levi Cowan)

The D.C. area has dodged a very large bullet, in the form of high winds and a catastrophic deluge. The Carolinas, obviously, have not been so lucky — Florence has already set a state record in North Carolina for flooding, with areas near Wilmington and Jacksonville reporting nearly three feet of rainfall by Sunday morning.

Remnants of Florence are expected to move through the region after Sunday night. Storm Team 4 meteorologist Doug Kammerer said the southern areas of the D.C. region have already been hit with heavy downpours.

An area of heavier downpours in our southern zones and a much better chance of rain and storms Tomorrow from #Florence! See you at 6pm. @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/e4K1qA3BvU

— Doug Kammerer (@dougkammerer) September 16, 2018

“Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible on Tuesday as the remnants of Florence push to the north and east of the DC area, through Pennsylvania,” Storm Team4 Meteorologist Lauryn Ricketts told WTOP. “By Wednesday, high pressure builds into the region bringing sunshine back to our area at least through the end of the workweek.”

Storm Team4 meterologist Mike Stinneford said the remnants of Florence will “track parallel to the Appalachians on Monday and then pass to our north on Tuesday.”

Total expected rainfall over the next week. While parts of the interior could see up to 6 inches of rain before Florence clears out, only one to two inches of rain were expected in D.C., at most. (Courtesy Pivotal Weather)

Fearing widespread severe weather, several cancellations were made for such events as the H Street Festival and DC VegFest. See a full list of cancellations here.

The good news: Ricketts said the weather should be fine when the Redskins host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon.

Forecast

Sunday: Areas of light rain and drizzle, cloudy with veiled sunshine (more north) and breezy.
Highs: 70s to near 80

Tonight: Periods of showers, some moderate, fog, breezy.
Highs: 60s

Monday: Intermittent rain, heavy at times – especially west of D.C. – warm and cloudy, breezy.
Highs: Lower 80s

Tuesday: Cloudy with bands of showers and storms, breezy.
Highs: Lower to mid 80s

Wednesday: Becoming sunny, less humid.
Highs: Lower 80s

WTOP’s Alejandro Alvarez contributed to this report.