Mild Mid-Month, Maybe More Moisture Midweek

Now

Partly sunny, mild. Sunshine through breaks in the overcast and mild Pacific-origin air behind the coastal storm of the last several days have pushed temperatures in the Washington metro area well into the mid 60s this afternoon. There have even been some upper 60s in the southern fringes of the region and low 70s in Fredericksburg. Clouds will increase again tomorrow as a new low pressure area getting organized in the southern Plains deepens as it heads on a more westward track for the Ohio Valley, bringing some more rain, especially heavy west of the mountains, on Thursday.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Mostly Cloudy. Under partly to mostly cloudy skies, low temperatures tonight will be from the low 50s downtown to the mid 40s in the 'burbs. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with the possibility of showers by evening west of the mountains and highs in the mid 60s.

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

Climate Corner: AMS Draft Policy Statement

The Council of the American Meteorological Society, the nation's oldest and largest organization of meteorologists, has just issued a draft statement on climate change. After reviewing the current state of knowledge of climate change and its effects, the statement concludes:

Despite the uncertainties noted above, there is adequate evidence from observations and climate models to conclude that climate is changing; that humans have significantly contributed to this change; that further climate change will continue to have serious impacts on human societies, on economies, on ecosystems and on wildlife through the 21st century and beyond. Policy choices in the near future will determine the extent of these impacts. Policy decisions are seldom made in a context of absolute certainty. Prudence dictates extreme care in managing our relationship with the only planet known to be capable of sustaining human life.

Comments on the draft statement may be submitted to the Council until December 9. The previous statement on "Climate Change Research: Issues for the Atmospheric and Related Sciences" was published in 2003.

The Council is also soliciting volunteers to help update the "Weather Analysis and Forecasting" statement, which was last issued in 1998.