Heat Here, Humidity Not So Much (Yet)

Now

Sunny, very warm. Temperatures are once again in the very warm to hot range in the Washington metro area this afternoon with most readings from the upper 80s to around 90°. Leesburg was the local hot spot with 93° at 3pm. Although the humidity has crept upward, most dewpoints have remained in the low to mid 60s, which most people should find only marginally uncomfortable, especially with a persistent breeze around 10 mph.

Around noon, the NWS issued a Special Weather Statement regarding the threat for a few severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Storm activity was expected to remain along and west of a line from Charlottesville to Frederick. Radar has confirmed the development of storms along the higher elevations, but so far they have remained generally west of I-81.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Very warm, more humid. Warm and increasingly humid conditions will continue through tomorrow. Lows under tonight's "blue" moon will be in the upper 60s to near 70° downtown and the mid 60s in the cooler 'burbs. Tomorrow's highs will be again in the upper 80s to near 90°. There is only a small chance of an afternoon or evening thunderstorm.

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

Tropical Topics: Weather Hazardous to Your Wealth?

In the Eastern Pacific, the last advisory has already been issued on ailin' Alvin, while Barbara is still expected to intensify, but to remain below hurricane strength. In the Atlantic basin, a Special Tropical Disturbance Statement was issued for a stormy area in the northwestern Caribbean and southeastern Gulf of Mexico.

The tropical forecasters from land-locked Colorado State have taken the opportunity of the official start of Atlantic hurricane season tomorrow to announce . . . absolutely no change in their storm numbers or intensity from the April 3 forecast. The above-average seasonal prediction got a lot of play on CNBC this morning, including Liz Claman with live coverage from the floor of the NYMEX commodity exchange, but the energy markets were apparently not impressed; crude oil and gasoline prices were both down. One commodity trader who was interviewed, however, was bullish on orange juice futures, especially considering that the size of the Florida crop has been cut in half over the last 2 years.

If you are interested in profiting from the hurricane season, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has recently started a hurricane futures and options trading program covering 5 distinct geographic areas: Gulf Coast, Florida, the Southern Atlantic Coast, the Northern Atlantic Coast and the Eastern U.S.

For the lawyers out there, the preceding comes with no endorsement or guarantees from the management or staff of CapitalWeather.com.

Political Science

In light of the atrocities already committed in the War on Science being waged by the pollution industries and their political prostitutes right here in the fetid atmosphere of Spin City, it's hard to be surprised at anything these days, but the comments yesterday by the head of one of the two major government earth-science agencies were absolutely astonishing in their audacity. In an interview with NPR this morning, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin trashed the implications of the climate science being produced by his own agency and by most of the rest of the legitimate research community. In answer to host Steve Inskeep's question, "Do you have any doubt that this is a problem that mankind has to wrestle with?", the Administrator answered, "I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with." NASA climate scientist James Hansen told ABC News,

It's an incredibly arrogant and ignorant statement. It indicates a complete ignorance of understanding the implications of climate change.

Apparently, Griffin has other plans for Earth. If they haven't done so already, astronauts should be seriously considering whether they want to risk their lives riding in faith-based rocketships.