This Week's Weather: A Mostly Sunny Christmas in an Otherwise Rainy Week

Need a last-minute gift idea? It's not too late to consider rain boots or an umbrella.

The weather this week holds chances for rain, mainly on Monday, Tuesday night, Wednesday and Saturday.

The good news: Tuesday, Christmas Day, is expected to be sunny and in the 40s, according to the National Weather Service. The Weather.com forecast is slightly less merry, describing the day as partly cloudy.

The Capital Weather Gang calls the forecast for Christmas Day "a quick lull between storm systems."

The week itself is filled with chances for rain and sleet.

On Monday, Christmas Eve, Northern Virginia has a 60 percent chance of rain and sleet, tapering off to just a 20 percent chance of rain Monday evening — so Santa should be able to make his deliveries. The high Monday is expected to be 41 degrees.

Christmas Day is expected to be sunny with a high of 46 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Anyone driving home immediately after the holiday should look out for slick roads. Tuesday night, Northern Virginia has a 70 percent chance of rain and sleet with chances increasing to 80 percent for Wednesday, according to forecasters.

Thursday, the sun returns but the temperature won't get any higher than 35 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Winds will whip to about 22 mph, forecasters predict.

Friday is looking pretty good, warming up a bit to the mid-40s, with just a 10 percent chance of rain.

Saturday, Northern Virginia has a 50 percent chance of seeing snow showers, according to Weather.com.