A Flurry of Interest

Now

Variable cloudiness, seasonably cold. Southerly winds ahead of a "clipper" low pressure system moving eastward from the Great Lakes have pushed temperatures into the seasonable lower 40s this afternoon, despite considerable cloudiness at times. A band of snow showers extending from just north of the Mason-Dixon line southwestward to the West Virginia panhandle gave a trace of precipitation to Hagerstown and was moving into Frederick at mid afternoon. This band is likely to provide some scattered flurries to the Washington metro region, especially the northern portions through Baltimore and northeastern Maryland. A new cold shot will follow tonight into tomorrow, with the likelihood of some mixed precipitation later in the week.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Scattered flurries, turning colder. After a 30% chance of snow flurries through this evening, skies will clear later tonight with lows in the low 20s downtown to the upper teens in the 'burblands. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with highs in the mid 30s.

Looking Beyond

This afternoon's models, while still waffling on the details, are confirming the likelihood that a projected storm for Thursday into Friday is likely to be a mixed precipitation event, with some accumulation of snow and ice possible. The exact track and precipitation amounts from a storm which doesn't yet exist have varied from run to run, but one factor which has been quite consistent since at least late Saturday is the lack of a mechanism to hold enough cold air in place and in enough depth for a significant all-snow event in this area, although some might consider any measurable amount to be significant at this point in the season. (For the model-watchers out there, don't forget when looking at a 2-dimensional map that the atmosphere is a dynamically evolving 3-dimensional compressible fluid. Just reading off green shading and red and blue lines at a point in time doesn't give the whole picture.)

For the details of the rest of the week and the Snow Lover's Crystal Ball, scroll on down to Jason's post below.

Capitol Climate: "Atmosphere of Pressure"

The House Oversight and Government Reform committee hearing on government climate science integrity opened this morning with a bipartisan complaint from both Chairman Waxman and Ranking Member Davis of Virginia that the Administration did not fully comply with the committee's request for documents. C-SPAN cut away from the hearings for the House session, but promised to broadcast the hearings later; check your listings. The prepared testimony from the witnesses is posted on the committee web site.

On the Senate side, the Committee on Public Works held a hearing today to provide a "Senators' Perspectives on Global Warming". Twelve Senators were confirmed to present their views on the subject.

C-SPAN-3, the "Oldies Channel", is scheduled to re-broadcast several old speeches and hearings on climate change, beginning tonight at 8:00.