Bake, not Shake

Now

The Washington metro area baked under temperatures into the low 90s this afternoon, but there wasn't a whole lotta shakin' goin' on. Although a narrow, but intense, line of thunderstorms extended at mid afternoon from southeastern New York all the way to the lower Potomac, the immediate DC area was mostly bypassed. The temperature dropped to 79° in a thunderstorm at Quantico, but most other locations were partly cloudy to cloudy.

Tonight and Tomorrow

There is a very slight chance of an isolated thunderstorm through this evening; lows will range from the mid 70s in town to the low 70s in the 'burbs with slightly lower humidity. Tomorrow will be warm and humid with highs around 90°.

Scroll down to Camden's post below for the outlook through the rest of the weekend and suggested activities.

Tropical Topics

The National Hurricane Center is tracking two tropical waves, one in the Caribbean and one in the Atlantic, but neither one is showing signs of development.

Capitol Climate

CSPAN-2 last night rebroadcast yesterday's hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on "Climate Change Assessment Methodologies". It was the second of two hearings to discuss alleged flaws in the famous "hockey stick" long-term temperature curve originally published by Michael Mann in 1998. If you've never seen the confrontation of science and politics up close and personal, it's the ultimate example of trying to mix oil and water. The hearings don't seem to have been covered by the "mainstream" press, but the Houston Chron's Science Guy provides some analysis in his blog. The realclimate blog, in which Michael Mann is a contributor, also had a post discussing last week's committee session. For the opposite opinion, see the lobbyist-funded Tech Central Station.