Well, it looks like Punxsutawney Phil was right, at least for D.C. February, a mostly mild month for the area, is going out like a lion. Last week’s moderate snowfall foreshadowed the “weather event” coming toward us tonight. Jason Samenow of Capital Weather is predicting that we’ll be hit with 6-10 inches of snow beginning tonight and going well into Monday. Weather Underground agrees, as does The Weather Channel.

These late-season snowstorms, though surprising, are actually not uncommon. DCist remembers the heavy snowstorm in March of 1999, with the usual amount of D.C.-area snow madness. Nothing compares, however, to the Palm Sunday snowstorm of 1942, which reportedly dumped 12 inches of snow on D.C. and 22 inches on Baltimore.

Samenow currently has his “schoolcast” at Three Apples, predicting the likelyhood of school cancellations to be high. No matter the amount of snow, odds are we’ll all have a very messy commute tomorrow.

(Snow probability image by Jason Samenow of Capital Weather)