Icy and potentially dicey morning commute on Christmas Eve for the DC area

It already might be a bit of a bummer having to work on Christmas Eve, and Tuesday morning’s commute will only make things worse with freezing rain and some snow flurries in parts of the D.C. area.

WTOP Meteorologist Mike Stinneford said commuters can expect areas of light freezing rain and snow, with D.C.-area roadways sidewalks becoming slick.

The National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory for Tuesday, from 5 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Those driving for holiday plans may want to delay their trip, as light freezing rain will begin along and west of Route 15 between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., then along the Interstate 95 corridor from between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.

Stinneford said the northern suburbs will see the onset of precipitation occur between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.

“In those first couple of hours of the day, a little bit of snowflake action, maybe a little bit of freezing rain, which is that liquid that freezes on contact, or even a few sleet pellets are possible as that system drives across our area,” 7News First Alert Senior Meteorologist Brian van de Graaff said.

Snow, however, is most likely along and north of Interstate 70, the National Weather Service.

“Very limited moisture, but at the surface below freezing, so anything that looks wet could be slick until those temperatures rise,” van de Graaff said.

According to the weather service, up to a few hundredths of an inch of total ice accumulation is possible, as is a tenth-of-an-inch dusting of snow.

Freezing rain will transition to rain late Tuesday morning before coming to an end early Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

With it being Christmas Eve, traditionally a busy travel day, 7News First Alert Meteorologist Eileen Whelan said to make sure to use extra caution on area roads.

Temperatures are expected to reach more seasonable highs, in the middle 40s, by Tuesday afternoon.

Prepping for potential ice, snow

D.C. deployed snow teams Monday night to treat roads with brine, and in a statement, the city’s Office of Emergency Management said teams would be on standby Tuesday morning to respond to ice complaints. The statement also advised residents to spread salt, sand or cat litter on sidewalks to prevent slips.

Maryland crews were also out pretreating roads Monday, especially those in the northern and western portions of the state, where it’s expected to snow.

“Ice is nobody’s friend. You know, ice is very dangerous. So that’s why we’re trying to get word out right now. And we’re going to have crews out way early before the precipitation even starts. And again, where we pretreated that’s going to really help us,” said Charlie Gischlar, deputy director of communications for the Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration.

For those who do have to drive Tuesday morning, Gischlar recommended visiting the agency’s website for live road conditions and access to traffic cameras.

Ultimately, Gischlar said it’s best to just delay any travel until around 10 or 11 a.m. Tuesday, if possible.

WTOP’s Matt Small contributed to this report.

Outages:

WTOP Forecast

TODAY: Areas of light freezing rain and snow. Roads and sidewalks will become slick. Precipitation will become mainly rain, then end by early afternoon with gradual clearing. Highs in the low to mid 40s.

TONIGHT: Fair skies. Lows in the upper 20s to lower 30s.

CHRISTMAS DAY WEDNESDAY: Partly sunny. Highs between 40 and 45.

THURSDAY: Partly to mostly sunny. Highs in the middle 40s.

FRIDAY: Sunny. Highs near 50.

Current conditions

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