Another Arctic Attack Approaching

Now

Mixed precipitation showers, cold. Some leftover moisture and energy from yesterday's non-event was being swept over the Washington metro area today ahead of a cold front moving eastward from the Ohio Valley. Showers of mixed precipitation type were falling through temperatures mainly in the mid and upper 30s. The next Arctic attack, now massing on the Canadian border, will sweep into the area over the weekend, setting the stage for what promises to be the most frigid week of the season so far.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Showers/flurries ending, clearing, breezy, cold. Scattered showers and snow flurries will end this evening, with cloudiness decreasing by morning. Lows will be in the mid 20s in the city, near 20° in the 'burblands. Tomorrow will be partly cloudy, windy, and cold, highs near 34°.

For the outlook through the rest of the weekend, scroll on down to Camden's post below.

Climate Corner

The release of the first volume of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report this morning was widely covered in the world press. Among at least 1000 others, articles appeared online in the WaPo, NYT, ChiSunTimes, BoGlo, USAT, and Miami Herald. The package of articles at the UK Guardian was especially comprehensive. A pdf file (about 2.3MB) of the report and the webcast of the announcement are available online. RealClimate.org has started a thread for discussion of the report.

Bob Ryan had a short, but effective, interview on the subject last night with Ralph Cicerone, who is President of the National Academy of Sciences here in Washington. Imagine that: a broadcast meteorologist actually consulting a real climate scientist, an "atmospheric scientist whose research in atmospheric chemistry and climate change has involved him in shaping science and environmental policy", instead of promoting radical right radio rhetoric. One of Dr. Cicerone's comments should be listened to carefully by Bob's more paranoid broadcast brethren: There will still be jobs for operational forecasters, even with global warming!

The belief tanks, of course, have geared up for attack mode in response. If you want to keep score at home, the droll Prof. Rabett has devised a version of Global Climate Denialist Bingo. Get 4 hits in a row and win a prize! In addition to his political role, Benjamin Franklin was one of the founders of American scientific meteorology, so it's only fitting that the denialists are putting their money where their mouths are and offering 100 Benjies for attacking the IPCC.