Back to the Future

** Freeze Warning in effect 11 PM tonight to 10 AM Friday **
** Freeze Watch in effect late Friday night through Saturday morning **

Now

Cold, windy. Arctic air arriving on blustery northwest winds pushed temperatures back to wintry levels today in the Washington metro area. It took until 3pm for the official reading to get back to its midnight level of 46°. Some scattered flurries were reported in the area, but radar at mid afternoon showed flurries mainly limited to north of the Mason-Dixon line and west of I-81.

As a strong upper-level low pressure vortex continues to rotate counter-clockwise in southeastern Canada, temperatures will remain cold through the weekend, and there is the likelihood of some snow showers or flurries. At least one model is attempting to develop a storm off the Delmarva coast by Saturday morning, but that is not confirmed by the early model run this afternoon.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Cold. Under mostly clear skies, lows tonight will be near freezing downtown to the mid 20s in 'burbalonia. Tomorrow will be very similar to today, with variable clouds, a little less wind, and highs in the upper 40s.

For the outlook through the weekend, scroll down to Dan's post below.

Climate Corner

Also returning to the spotlight this week is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose Working Group II report, "Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" will be released tomorrow at a press conference in Brussels. The WaPo obtained a nearly-final draft; a front-page article today, "Climate Panel Confident Warming Is Underway", discusses the report's expected conclusions. The online WaPo also posted an article, "Report: Global Warming to Change Climate of American Southwest", this afternoon reviewing the implications of climate change in the Southwest U.S. The main conclusion is that rainfall is expected to decrease 10-20% by the end of the century.

The Weather Channel is planning to provide daylong coverage tomorrow of the new IPCC report. Check your favorite squawk radio and cable noise networks for the predictable Gore-bashing.