Counting Down to a Rain-Free RecordWeather music works its way up the charts

Now

Sunny, warm, a little more humid. With a large high pressure ridge still dominating, this afternoon's weather map shows virtually no rain anywhere east of the Mississippi. Here in the Washington metro area, bright sunshine and southerly breezes have pushed temperatures back into the 80s for the first time in a week; by 4pm, National was at 82°, 14° above average.

At post time, we are roughly 7 hours from tying the 1995 record of 33 consecutive days without measurable rain. Whether the streak lasts through tomorrow is a little more problematic, but the chances for precipitation look better for Friday. Fortunately, conditions in this area are not as dire as in large portions of the Southeast, where residents are "Facing Tough Choices".

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

Tonight and Tomorrow

Some clouds, warm. Clouds will be scattered to broken overnight with lows in the low 60s downtown and the mid and upper 50s in the 'burbs. Some mist or fog is possible in the early morning hours. Tomorrow will have increasing clouds in the afternoon but only a 30% chance of showers and continued warm temperatures, highs 76-79°.

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

Mediarology

If you're bored watching grass die, the Discovery Channel premieres a new series tonight called "Storm Chasers". The show pairs up tornado researcher Dr. Josh Wurman and his Doppler on Wheels (featured in Nancy Mathis' book "Storm Warning") with an IMAX filmmaker and the TIV (Tornado Intercept Vehicle), which looks like it escaped from a steroid explosion at the BattleBot lab. The program is scheduled for 10pm on Wednesdays, with repeats Friday nights at 8 and midnight, Mondays at 10, and Tuesdays at 2am.

The Weather Channel CD compilation of Weather on the 8's smooth jazz, which Jason posted about yesterday, has risen to number 60 for sales in the music category and number 1 for jazz compilations at Amazon.

TIV photo from Discovery Channel