Tropical Depression Sally to bring rain, cold front to DC area

FILE: A woman holds an umbrella amid rain and traffic at the intersection of Western Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue in Northwest D.C.’s Friendship Heights neighborhood. (WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez)

Rain and a cold front have descended on the D.C. area as the remains of Tropical Depression Sally move through.

There was soaking and heavy rainfall in Virginia, south of Interstate 66, and in areas of Maryland along and east of Intestate 95 Thursday evening.

The rain is expected to taper off Friday as a cold front moves in.

“Temperatures will fall fairly quickly Friday evening with strong Canadian high pressure building in for the weekend,” Storm Team4 meteorologist Matt Ritter said.

Sally, once a hurricane, dumped heavy rain as it hit parts of the Florida Panhandle, western Georgia and the Alabama coast. The National Hurricane Center said winds of the once-powerful hurricane decreased Wednesday to about 35 mph, with some higher gusts.

Parts of southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle are still bracing for potentially serious flooding from bulging rivers.

DC warns of ‘active’ hurricane season

D.C. officials warned the public about an “active” hurricane season during a news conference Thursday.

“We are currently in the middle of the most active hurricane season since 2005,” D.C. Homeland Director Chris Rodriguez said Thursday. “We had to prepare and we have to prepare for severe weather.”

Just last week, we experienced the largest accumulation of rainfall in the District since 1950,” he added. That rain brought with it torrential downpours and dramatic rescues.

Forecast

  • Thursday night: Cloudy and mild. Showers arriving early near D.C. and points south. Moderate rain in the far southern suburbs and Southern Maryland. Lows in the low to mid 60s.
  • Friday: Showers near D.C. and moderate rain in the far southern suburbs and Southern Maryland in the morning, ending during the early afternoon. Otherwise cloudy and breezy. Highs in the upper 60s to low 70s.
  • Saturday: Mostly sunny. Breezy, cooler and much less humid. Highs in the low to mid 60s.
  • Sunday: Mostly sunny. Not as breezy. Still unseasonably cool. Highs in the mid to upper 60s.

Radar

WTOP’s Will Vitka contributed to this report. 

Valerie Bonk

Valerie Bonk started working at WTOP in 2016 and has lived in Howard County, Maryland, her entire life. She's thrilled to be a reporter for WTOP telling stories on air. She works as both a television and radio reporter in the Maryland and D.C. areas. 

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