National Weather Service Issues Winter Storm Watch

UPDATE 6:30 p.m.

Four to six inches of snow are expected for the Fredericksburg area, Doug Kammerer, NBC Washington's Chief Meteorologist, reported this evening.

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The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a winter weather storm watch for the Fredericksburg area Thursday morning until late Thursday night.

According to the NWS, a winter storm watch means there is a potential for snow accumulations that will affect travel conditions.

Snow may mix with rain at the onset Thursday morning, especially south of D.C., before changing to all snow in the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.  Snow could be heavy at times, with accumulations in excess of five inches possible.

The Capitol Weather Gang disagrees with the National Weather Service.  "Our opinion is that this is premature and overdone, and that current available information does not support this forecast," they said in their Washington Post column.

"We would not have issued this watch - although we do think there is a possibility of accumulating snow - 1 to 3 inches perhaps being most likely. We would only give a 10 percent chance of 5 inches or more snow from this system," they said.

Temperatures are expected to be in the lower 30s, with northwest winds 5 to 10 mph and gusts up to 20 mph, the NWS predicts.

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