Summer Steadily Simmering

Now

Sunny, warm. It's nowhere near the record hot May of 1991 (see Today in Weather History), but temperatures continue to trend toward closing out May on a summery note. Afternoon readings are only a degree or two warmer today than yesterday, but humidity is gradually on the rise. Dewpoints, aided by a more southerly breeze, have inched up through the 50s to near 60°.

The only showers on radar are widely scattered along the central portion of the Virginia/West Virginia border.

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

Tonight and Tomorrow

Very warm, increasing humidity. Lows tonight under mostly clear skies will be in the mid 60s in town to near 60° in the 'burbs. Tomorrow will be sunny, warm, and a little more humid, highs 87-91°. Precipitation chances from all models are almost unanimously in the single digits through tomorrow evening.

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

Tropical Topics

Tropical Storm Alvin in the eastern Pacific was declared tropically depressed overnight. It continues weak, although convection increased somewhat this morning. It is expected to dissipate gradually within about 4 days.

Meanwhile, the second depression of the eastern Pacific season has become Tropical Storm Barbara. Unlike Alvin, Barbara is both closer to the coast and expected to intensify in the next several days to hurricane strength. Areas along the southeastern Mexican and Guatamalan coast have been advised to monitor developing conditions.

This is only the third time that 2 named storms have been observed during May in this region. The other years were 1956 and 1984.