March of the Penguins

Now

Sunny, cold. Washington's penguin-friendly weather continued today with temperatures struggling to reach the 40s. Under bright March sun, highs were only 40° at National, 41° at Dulles (low of 11° tied a record), 38° at BWI. After another chilly day tomorrow, more seasonable temperatures are on tap for the weekend.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Mostly clear, cold. Tonight will be mostly clear with lows in the low 20s downtown to the mid and upper teens in 'burbland. Tomorrow will be sunny and continued cold, highs 40-43°.

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

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

Mediarology

Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the just-published third volume in a near-future climate change trilogy set right here in Spin City, was interviewed today on WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi show. Robinson has won numerous science fiction awards, including the Nebula and Hugo for his Mars colonization trilogy. Streaming audio is available on the program's web site.

Beginning Sunday night, The Weather Channel is featuring "Tornado Week" with 2 new episodes of "Storm Stories" (including the 100th of the series) and nightly reports "Live From Tornado Alley."

Chilly Thrills

**Snow Advisory expires 7 PM **

Now

Light snow ending, very cold. Courtesy of some late-season Arctic air and a lingering clipper system, Washington snow lovers were treated to some extra frosting on the end of this year's late-starting winter. Despite seasonally frigid temperatures, accumulations were generally light, except well west of the immediate metro area. National reported 2" at 6pm (0.15" liquid), increasing the season's total by over 20%. Dulles had 1.4" and BWI 0.8". To the west, Frostburg MD had 10", and amounts were as high as 5.5" in Frederick Co. MD.

Today's highs so far were 28° at National, 30° at Dulles, 27° at BWI. National's high was an impressive 25° below the long-term average and only 1° above the lowest recorded maximum for the date.

Following a couple more cold days, more springlike conditions are on tap by the weekend.

Picture of snow at the beach from the Bethany Cam.

Tonight and Tomorrow

SchoolCast:
Decreasing clouds, cold. Any remaining light snow or flurries will be ending this evening, with clouds decreasing after midnight and lows in the low 20s in town to the upper teens in 'burbland. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny and continued chilly for the season, with highs in the low 40s.

Killer Tornado

It may seem a little out of season, but yesterday was the publication date of "Storm Warning: The Story of a Killer Tornado" by local author and former journalist Nancy Mathis. The book is about the May 3, 1999 Oklahoma City tornado. The author will be presenting a talk at the next meeting of the DC Chapter of the American Meteorological Society at 7pm on Monday, March 19 at the AAAS in Washington. The meeting is free and open to the public, but RSVP is required.

Snow Advisory Tomorrow

**Snow Advisory in effect from 7 AM to 7 PM Wednesday**

Now

Sunny, windy, cold. Sunny skies, brisk northwesterly winds, and temperatures barely reaching freezing are setting the stage today for another whirl of the wonderful Washington winter weather wheel. The air is also extremely dry, with dewpoints generally below 0° (relative humidity around 20%).

A "clipper" weather system now over the Great Lakes will be diving southeastward, bringing some snow to the Mid Atlantic area tomorrow. The latest model runs this afternoon continue to show that temperatures will be cold enough for snow, but that precipitation amounts are likely to be fairly light. For the metro area, that translates into 1-2" being the most probable amount, although one model does push slightly heavier amounts closer to the area.

Today's highs were 33° at National, 32° at Dulles, 31° at BWI.

Surface and radar chart at 4pm today from WSI/Intellicast

Tonight and Tomorrow

Increasing clouds, cold, light snow developing. Clouds will increase overnight with lows in the low 20s in town to the upper teens in the 'burbs. Some light snow is likely to develop by dawn with some periods of moderate snow possible during the day and highs around 28-32°. Accumulations in the immediate metro area are likely to be 1-2".

For the details of the Snow Lover's Crystal Ball, scroll down to Matt's post below.

Winds March In

*Wind Advisory in Effect until 11pm today*

Now

Windy, cool. It's meteorological spring, but a cold pool of air moving southeastward over the Northeast and Mid Atlantic area will give another taste of winter for the next couple of days. Winds ahead of the approaching strong cold front gusted as high as 40 mph at times in the region today, while temperatures reached generally into the low 50s. A wind advisory remains in effect, so be careful with high profile vehicles, lawn furniture, trash cans, pets, and small children.

A "clipper" system moving in from the northwest offers at least the possibility of some light snow on Wednesday. The latest models this afternoon indicate that temperatures will be sufficiently cold for snow, but the most significant precipitation is still likely to be north and west of the metro area.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Mostly clear, windy, cold. Tonight will be mostly clear and windy with lows in the low 20s in town and down to the mid teens in the cooler 'burblands. Tomorrow will be sunny and breezy with highs only in the mid 30s.

For the outlook through the rest of the week and the Snow Lover's Crystal Ball, scroll down to Jason's post below.

Temperature chart at 3pm today from Unisys

Mediarology: Sweeps Update

Friday's WaPo had more data on the local TV news ratings during February "sweeps" and their relationship to weather coverage. Viewership was up for all stations, but Channel 4, WRC, won the ratings race in head-to-head competition. WTTG-5 was aided in the 10:00 time slot by "American Idol".

Weather was apparently also a major factor in Pittsburgh ratings, and the Borowitz Report had a comment on the subject as well.

Heavy Rain Likely Flood Watch in Effect

**Flood Watch in effect 7PM tonight through tomorrow morning.**

Now

Cloudy, seasonable Clouds were lowering and thickening this afternoon ahead of a massive storm system centered over the upper Midwest. Moderate to heavy precipitation is indicated over southern West Virginia late this afternoon. Despite the cloud cover, temperatures were over 50° for the 3rd consecutive day, following the coldest February since 1979 and the 15th coldest since the beginning of official Washington records in 1871. February's total snowfall of 5.9" at National was above the 30-year average by 13%.

Today's high/departure from average: National 52°/+2, Dulles 51°/+1, BWI 50°/+1

Tonight and Tomorrow

Rain developing, moderate to heavy. Rain will develop over the region this evening from southwest to northeast, becoming moderate to heavy at times; scattered thunderstorms are possible. Lows will be in the upper 40s. Rain will end in the morning tomorrow with some clearing in the afternoon and highs in the upper 50s.

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

Blogosphere Climate

The ClimatePolicy blog was launched today by the American Meteorological Society's Policy Program. It is intended to "discuss a wide range of topics that span scientific understanding, impact assessment, policy analysis, and the value judgments that shape people’s policy preferences" related to climate change.

Mediarology

The Weather Channel's foray into prime-time infotainment continues with the debut of a new series, "Epic Conditions". The show, which features extreme outdoor sports, premieres Sunday at 9pm with an episode on extreme skiing at Steamboat. Media Daily reported last week that the new program will be replacing "Storm Stories" in the weekday schedule this fall.

MediaWeek reported Monday that new research shows significantly higher ad recall rates for the Weather Channel than USA Network or HGTV.

Frigid February Finally Fading

Now

Sunny, seasonable True to form, this February is finishing with a below-average day, although it's only by 1°. The seasonable temperatures felt even more springlike this afternoon with the strong sun and light winds. Highs were 51° at National, 52° at Dulles, 50° at BWI.

Meanwhile, a storm system which once again dumped on Denver with an additional 3-7" of snow will be heading toward the upper Great Lakes in the next couple of days, bringing possibly heavy rain to the Mid Atlantic area and an icy mix to interior southern New York and New England.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Increasing clouds, chance of rain in afternoon.
Clouds will begin to increase tonight with lows in the mid 30s downtown to near 30° in 'burbville. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of rain by evening and highs 48-52°

For the outlook Friday through the weekend, scroll down to Dan's post below. Also included in Dan's post is a post-mortem of Sunday's storm.

Climate Corner

An international panel of scientists sponsored by the United Nations Foundation and the scientific research honor society Sigma Xi released a report yesterday "outlining the best measures for mitigating and adapting to global warming." The executive summary, full report, and links to news coverage are available on the UNF web site.

(N)ice Art

Our link yesterday to Walter's snow sculpture was picked up by our friends at the USA Today weather blog.

Nibbling Away at the Cold

Now

Mostly sunny, seasonable. After the persistent cold most of the rest of this month, today's near-average temperatures seem mild by comparison, as Sunday's snow continues to fade away, perhaps helped in part by the legendary Snow Mice. At mid afternoon, most reporting locations in the metro region were within a couple of degrees of 50°. Highs were 52° at National, 51° at Dulles and BWI.

Dry conditions will continue for another day or so while a new storm system organizes in the central Rockies and heads toward the Great Lakes on a similar track as the last one, promising an icy event for parts of the East Coast. This time, however, both of the main U.S. models have the ice zone a couple of hundred miles further north. This time they mean it. Honestly. Stay tuned.

Photo of snow sculpture from CapitalWeather.com visitor Walter. See Flickr for some more amazing creations.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Partly cloudy, seasonable. Lows tonight under partly cloudy skies will be from the low and mid 30s in town to the upper 20s in the cooler 'burbvilles. Tomorrow will be similar to today, but with a bit more sun, and highs 48-52°.

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

Revenue Removal

An article in today's WaPo Metro section implies that local transportation departments could use some help from the Snow Mice. Despite the aggregate snow total being only about 50% of "normal", seemingly chronically underfunded snow removal budgets have already been exceeded, in some cases prior to Sunday's event.