No-protest Weather Running Out

There was nothing to protest about the weather for the Chinese president's visit to the Nation's Capital today. The string of exceptionally fine spring days was extended with temperatures at or above 80 by mid afternoon throughout the metro area.

As Josh explains below, however, our luck will be running out starting tomorrow. A low pressure area moving northeastward from the Tennessee Valley will bring clouds and the threat of showers by mid-day tomorrow, along with significantly cooler temperatures.

Photo of brilliant blue sky over Georgetown yesterday by CapitalWeather.com photographer, Kevin Ambrose.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Increasing high clouds tonight will keep low temperatures in the upper 50s city to the low 50s in the colder 'burbs. Skies should be overcast by tomorrow morning with showers arriving by early afternoon and continuing into tomorrow night. There is an 80% chance of showers and possibly thundershowers by evening; highs will be in the upper 60s.

Above-Average April

As Matt noted a couple of days ago, this month so far is another in a long series of warmer than normal months. The chart shows that only 5 of the daily highs and 4 of the daily lows out of 19 days have been below the long-term average.

We are now rapidly approaching the point in the year at which freezing temperatures have never been observed. This Sunday, with a record low of 33, is the earliest such date. On the high side, 95° seems to be some kind of cap for April. That reading has been reached on 4 different dates, including as early as the 17th, but never exceeded.


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