A somewhat subjective rating of the day’s weather, on a scale of 1 to 10.  A feisty breeze is the main downside. You may notice a “wind chill” once the sun begins to set.  Today: Partly to mostly sunny, breezy. Highs: 62-69.  Tonight: Partly to mostly cloudy. Lows: 39-45.  Tomorrow: Mostly sunny, brisk. Highs: 53-60.  Heading into late October we should expect cool weather and the winds of fall. Both are on tap this weekend. The wind may be annoying at times, but today should still deliver about as much as you could want from a Saturday even if your hair’s a mess. Tomorrow will help really get us in the spirit of the advancing season. It can’t be too long till we see our first snowflakes, right? (ahh, daydreaming…)  Today (Saturday): The cold front is through rather early. With winds from the west most of the day we’ll still get enough warming “downslope” off the mountains to keep us from seeing falling temperatures from the start. Skies are partly to mostly sunny, and we still see temperatures rise to a range from the low 60s well west and northwest to perhaps the upper 60s in D.C. and southeast. Highs could be early with temperatures leveling or falling off by mid-afternoon. Winds are up all day, but they’re set to peak around 20 mph sustained in the afternoon. That means some gusts past 30 or even 35 mph are a good bet. Confidence: Medium-High  Tonight: Skies tend to fill with more clouds overnight, for a time. Let’s call it partly to mostly cloudy surrounding midnight. Winds fall off daytime speeds, but don’t disappear in any fashion as they continue to blow around 10 mph from the northwest. That, plus the passing clouds, help keep temperatures from going too wild. We’ll mostly see lows in the upper 30s to mid-40s. There could be a sprinkle late night if the dry air doesn’t eat it up on its way down. Confidence: Medium-High  For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend…  Tomorrow (Sunday): Brr? Despite what should be mostly or even fully sunny skies, temperatures are going to struggle. I don’t think we make it out of the 50s across most of the area, and that might include downtown. A range of highs from 53 northwest to 60 south and east seems prudent, as might a bulky sweater or a light coat. Winds slacken a bit compared to today, but still blow around 10-15 mph at peak, then dwindle rapidly near and after sunset. Confidence: Medium-High  Tomorrow night: The rapid dwindling of winds, plus still crystal clear skies, adds up to cold. Well, seasonally chilly at least. Our coldest suburbs are likely headed to the mid-30s, and could even fall a bit lower, though the air is not quite dry enough for much more. Downtown? Low, maybe even mid-40s. If winds do end up calm, some valley and river fog is possible. Confidence: Medium-High  Brilliant blue sky against fall leaves near the Washington Monument (John Sonderman via Flickr)  On Monday, we head back closer to normal on the temperature front. However, normal is quickly becoming cool. Winds are much reduced compared to over the weekend, so partly to mostly sunny skies and highs reaching the low-to-mid 60s should feel quite nice. As a system works toward us from the west, a late day shower could pop up yet I think that risk is mainly going to come overnight. Confidence: Medium  A convoluted pattern looks to form across the northeast by Tuesday, and that means the odds of clouds and rain are back up. A coastal system may also develop. While we’re on clouds: It’s feeling a little like Upstate New York around here lately, no? Anyway, hard to say exactly what happens other than it’s leaning unsettled. Playing conservative with highs due to the enhanced rain risk, let’s go with near 60 for now. Expect refinement and maybe even significant changes as we close. Confidence: Low-Medium
The cold front that passes this morning ultimately delivers some of the coolest air we've seen this fall. Breezy to windy conditions might be the main story through tomorrow.