Spring is Busted Out All Over

** Freeze Watch in effect from late Thursday night through Saturday morning **

Now

Cloudy, chilly. Persistent clouds and an easterly wind following this morning's showers and thunderstorms have busted numerous forecasts of warmer readings in the Washington metro area this afternoon. At mid afternoon, temperatures were generally in the low to mid 50s, while even colder air is poised to arrive for the rest of the week and weekend along with the possibility of some snow showers.

All three major local airports reported thunderstorms early this morning, but these had all moved well offshore by early afternoon. Some sun was peeking through the clouds late in the afternoon.

Photo of cherry blossoms earlier this week by CapitalWeather.com photographer Kevin Ambrose

Tonight and Tomorrow

Decreasing clouds, colder. Clouds will decrease and winds will increase overnight as lows drop to the mid and upper 30s in the city and near freezing in the coolest parts of 'burbalonia. Tomorrow will be partly cloudy and breezy with highs in the upper 40s to near 50°.

For the outlook through the weekend and beyond with Larson's Long-Range, scroll down to Josh's post below.

Tropical Topics: Meet the Hurricane Guy

This month's meeting of the local chapter of the American Meteorological Society features the new Director of the National Hurricane Center, Bill Proenza. His presentation topic is, "Challenges in Warning and Prediction of Tropical Cyclones". The meeting at the new Rockville library begins with a light dinner at 6:00 next Wednesday, April 11. Cost is $15 for members and $20 for non-members. RSVP information (deadline Monday) is on the meeting web page.

Seal Hunt Impacted by Ice Conditions

Today's WaPo, in a story headlined, "Warming Thins Herd for Canada's Seal Hunt", reports that the beginning of the annual Canadian seal hunt has been affected by poor ice conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence: "Canadian authorities reduced the quotas on the harp seal hunt by about 20 percent after overflights showed large numbers of seal pups were lost to thin and melting ice in the lower part of the gulf, off Prince Edward Island." Among other press reporting on the event are the Winnipeg Sun and The Economist.