DC: Delightfully Comfortable

Now

Sunny, warm. Southerly breezes have brought temperatures a few degrees warmer this afternoon, but humidities are still comfortable as dewpoints remain in the low 50s. Culpeper and Fredericksburg were the warm spots in the region with 81° at 4pm. Except for a few isolated popup showers near the southern portion of the Virginia/West Virginia border, radar is clear in all directions.

Continued seasonably warm and dry conditions are on tap for the next couple of days.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Mostly clear, seasonable. Lows tonight under a few scattered clouds will be from the upper 50s downtown to the low 50s in the 'burbs. Tomorrow will be a lot like today with highs in the upper 70s to near 80°.

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

Tropical Topics

The National Hurricane Center and Climate Prediction Center today issued the official outlook for this year's hurricane season. The forecast calls for a 75% chance of above-normal activity, including 13-17 named storms, 7-10 hurricanes, and 3-5 major hurricanes (category 3 or higher). Among the factors expected to contribute to the higher activity are: warmer sea surface temperatures, reduced wind shear, and lower surface pressure over the tropical Atlantic, higher upper atmosphere pressure from the central Atlantic eastward to Africa, and a favorable African easterly jet.

Hurricane season outlook graphic from NOAA.

Capitol Climate

Among the climate-related hearings scheduled this week on Capitol Hill is "Potential impacts of global warming on recreation and the recreation industry" by the Senate Environment and Public Works committee on Thursday.

The tentative topic for the next American Meteorological Society Environmental Science Seminar Series the week of June 11 is "Why Should We Trust that the Science of Global Warming is Right?".