Praying for Rain

Tonight and Tomorrow

Lows tonight will be near 70 in the city, down to the low 60s in the cooler 'burbs with moderate humidity. Tomorrow will be sunny with highs near 89 and increasing humidity.

For the extended outlook, see Jason's post yesterday, and check back for Dan's post tomorrow.

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Be careful what you wish for. With the Washington metro area needing rain to help close a widening precipitation deficit this year, some places got more than they wanted yesterday. Matt showed a radar picture of the total precipitation in his earlier post. Here is a wider regional view from the National Weather Service experimental precipitation analysis. The heaviest precipitation of 1.5" and above (yellow and gold areas) extended from just south of the District across central Prince George's County and eastward to the middle of the Chesapeake Bay and the Eastern Shore. Most of Montgomery County outside the Beltway, on the other hand, had 0.10" or less.

New Reign Begins

Here's someone who probably knows how to seriously pray for rain. Before this week, it's not likely you would have seen "Episcopal" and "oceanographer" in the same sentence. Katharine Jefferts Schori is not only the first woman elected to head the Episcopal church in the U.S.; she also has a doctorate in oceanography, making her the first earth scientist to hold that office. Her specialty is critters rather than currents, however. She studied oysters and squids and worked for a while for NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service.