Hot, Then NotShowers and t'storms possible for tomorrow PM

Now

Sunny, breezy, warm. A southerly breeze gusting over 25 mph at times has helped push temperatures well into the 80s in the Washington metro area this afternoon, at least 10° warmer than yesterday. This brings the first half of the month to about 2.5° above average. By mid afternoon, the hot spots in the region were Leesburg and Winchester, both at 88°. Dewpoints are still quite comfortable, mainly in the upper 50s. Regional radar is clear in all directions.

An approaching cold front will bring a chance of showers or thunderstorms late tomorrow and much cooler temperatures for Thursday.

CapitalWeather.com chart from NWS data, photo © Kevin Ambrose

Tonight and Tomorrow

Mainly clear, warm, then chance of showers and t'storms. Under mostly clear skies, lows tonight will be in the summery 60s: mid and upper in the city and lower in the 'burbs. Tomorrow morning will be mostly sunny, but clouds will increase in the afternoon, and there is a 50% chance of showers and possible thunderstorms by late afternoon or evening. The Storm Prediction Center has indicated a slight risk of severe weather. Highs will be 78-82°.

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

Climate Clues

NASA announced today that large areas of Antarctica, roughly the size of California, were observed to melt in January 2005. Melting was observed in multiple regions as far as 560 miles inland, within 310 miles of the South Pole, and at elevations above 6600 feet. Konrad Steffen, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, one of the leaders of the team of scientists, said

"Antarctica has shown little to no warming in the recent past with the exception of the Antarctic Peninsula, but now large regions are showing the first signs of the impacts of warming as interpreted by this satellite analysis. Increases in snowmelt, such as this in 2005, definitely could have an impact on larger scale melting of Antarctica's ice sheets if they were severe or sustained over time."

Law of Unintended Consequences

The rural electric coal subsidy story we linked to yesterday gets a more complete treatment on the bunny trail.