How warm is it?

Currently

If you're still sitting in the office looking out the window, it's not because we didn't warn you. Forecasts of highs near 80 turned out to be a wee bit conservative, as temperatures rose 30 degrees by mid afternoon from an early morning low of 52. Temperatures in the Washington DC metro area were all above 80 at 3pm, except for Quantico, which stubbornly reported 69. Either the south wind at 16 mph was producing a mean river effect, or the site may need a calibration. A southeast breeze off the Bay was chilling Annapolis to 59. The warm spot was Leesburg VA at 88. Roughly due east of there in Montgomery County, I'm seeing a temperature of 88 as well. With the storm windows and doors still in place, that's about a 20 degree excess above the indoor temperature. Shortly before 4 pm, both Leesburg and Frederick MD reached the magic 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit). Let us know in the comments how warm it is where you are. (And ignore the comment count; it's being a little flaky.) Last year, the temperature was above 70 only once in the first half of April, reaching 80 for the first time on the 17th.

Outlook

A storm system now slowly working its way through the Gulf States will bring an increasing threat of showers by late tomorrow through the middle of the day Friday. After lows tonight about 60, highs tomorrow should be in the low 70's. Further cooling is on tap for Friday, with highs in the low 60's.

Mass Market Media Meteorologist Moves

The American Meteorological Society announced on Monday that Jack Williams will be joining the AMS staff as the public outreach coordinator. Williams has been the weather editor of USA Today for over 20 years since it first began publication. He has received the AMS Louis J. Battan Author's Award twice: for the "USA Today Weather Book" in 1994 and with co-author Dr. Bob Sheets in 2004 for "Hurricane Watch: Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth". His first task at the AMS will be to develop a new book on weather and climate aimed at promoting scientific literacy. The Weather Grill gang sends best wishes to Jack on his new assignment; don't forget to bring your snow shovel to Boston.