Deja Vu

5:00 update: We have Tropical Depression 19. The area near the Cape Verdes has developed and has the potential to become Stan within 24 hours.

4:30 update
How cold was it? The Official Low last night was 50 (10.0 C). (Hm, I wonder why those numbers sound familiar. Check out the CarTalk Puzzler reference in Monday's post.) The Usually Colder Place was 40 (4.4 C). In case there was any suspense, the 24-hr. precipitation did come in at 0.01", so the record for driest September ever in Washington will be official at midnight. This afternoon, temperatures have rebounded; they are at or very near 70 in all reporting locations. If you want to see rain on a radar, you'll have to go at least as far as the southern Georgia/South Carolina coast.

Tonight and Tomorrow

For tonight, clear skies and calm winds will lead to some more chilly temperatures, but a few notches higher than last night: 53 city to 43 exurbs. Tomorrow: deja vu all over again. (And somebody said in the comments that summer was the boring season!)

Tropical Beat

The tropics continue their siesta. The Special Tropical Disturbance in the northwestern Caribbean was looking better organized today, but not enough to send in the planes. A flight is scheduled tentatively for late tonight or tomorrow.

A low pressure area almost 600 miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands is also perking up and conditions are favorable for tropical depression development "later today or on Saturday", according to the NHC.

Policy Matters

Wonkette has some comments on Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Perk" (or should the initial consonants have been reversed?)

Capitol Climate: CO2

Congress is back in town (hold on to your wallet!), so the American Meteorological Society's Environmental Science Seminar Series resumes on Capitol Hill next Wednesday.

• Subject: "Changes in Ocean Acidity Resulting from the Buildup of CO2: Implications for the Present and the Future"
  
• Time: Wednesday, October 5, 2005, noon - 2pm
  
• Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room G-50
  
• Moderator: Dr. Anthony Socci, Senior Policy Fellow, American Meteorological Society
  
• Speaker: Dr. Richard A. Feely, Supervisory Oceanographer, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA
  
• Speaker: Dr. Kenneth Caldeira, Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution, Stanford University, CA

The questions to be addressed are:

What are the links between ocean acidity, ocean temperature and elevated atmospheric CO2? What are the implications of increasing ocean acidity in the upper ocean to ecosystems and to society? Is there historical evidence of increased ocean acidity associated with warmer temperatures and higher levels of oceanic and atmospheric CO2? If so, what were the consequences? Are there options for keeping ocean acidity in check? Is the increase in ocean acidity independent of any climate warming resulting from the buildup of CO2?

The next seminar is tentatively scheduled for October 25 on the subject, "Hurricanes: Are They Changing and Are We Adequately Prepared for the Future?"