Halloween Treat: Unscary Weather

Now

Sunny, mild. Today's sunny, mild weather has been a preview of the kind of warm Halloween the Washington metro area has experienced for most of the current century. In the 5 years starting with 2001, Halloween highs have been: 64°, 47°, 70°, 79°, and 71°. This afternoon's temperatures at National were hindered slightly (high of 68°) by the infamous southerly river breeze, but Dulles reached 70° at 3:34, and several locations in the southern fringe of the region were in the 70s.

Pictured: Temperature map at 4pm shows large pre-Halloween area of 60s and 70s (shades of orange) in the eastern U.S., from Unisys.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Dry and mild. With clear skies and light winds, lows tonight will be in the upper 40s downtown ranging to near 40° in the cooler 'burbs. Tomorrow will be sunny and seasonably warm with highs near 74°. Little ghosties and goblins should expect temperatures in the low 60s and light winds at Trick or Treat time; chance of rain is less than 5%.

For the outlook through the rest of the week and into the weekend, scroll down to Jason's post below.

Winter Outlooks

In the annual triumph of hope over experience (September/October temperatures explain only 9% of the variance of Washington winter temperatures), winter outlooks have been rolling out. Dave Tolleris (DT) of WxRisk.com gave his yesterday on WeatherTalk Radio. He's calling for temperatures within +/-1° of average and snowfall near to a little above average. He also disclosed that he is moving from the snow-challenged Richmond area to Leesburg. Welcome to the local blogging area, DT!

Several other winter outlooks are posted on the WeatherTalk web site. Stay tuned here for the CapitalWeather.com winter outlook coming out soon.