Hot Town, Summer in the City

Now

Heat advisories are in effect through this evening and again tomorrow afternoon and evening. Temperatures were well into the mid 90s by mid afternoon today in the Washington metro area. The most common reading was 95° at 3pm. At 4pm, National Airport was 96° (back to 93° at 5pm), and BWI reported 97&deg. Fortunately, the subsiding air under a dome of high pressure which was producing the heat was also limiting dewpoints to the upper 60s and low 70s.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Hot! Tonight will be mainly clear and very warm with lows in the upper 70s, a bit cooler in the less-paved areas. Tomorrow will be continued hot and a little more humid with highs in upper 90s to near 100 and a slight chance of an afternoon or evening thunderstorm.

For the extended outlook through the rest of the week, see Jason's post below.

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The core of today's heat is focused in the southern Plains, where readings over 100° are common from Kansas southward through Oklahoma to northern Texas. Temperatures over 90° (purple shading) covered most of the East Coast, reaching well into western New England.

Temperature chart at 4pm today from Unisys.

Tropical Topics

An area of storms hanging around a couple of hundred miles off the Carolina coast is starting to show some potential to become tropically depressed. A reconnaissance flight is scheduled for tomorrow to investigate the situation.

Climate Corner

The Discovery Channel, which happens to be based in Silver Spring, premiered a 2-hour documentary last night on global warming. The program, which was jointly produced by NBC News and the BBC for Discovery, was hosted by Tom Brokaw. Besides being a well-presented and comprehensive view of the subject, the show refreshingly interviewed only scientists directly involved in the area, rather than pretending to present a "balanced" mix of pundits, politicians, and lobbyists. Naturally, the right-wing noise machine wasted no time in spewing out personal attacks on the messengers (especially Brokaw, whose name appears in nearly every paragraph of the taxpayer-funded propaganda issued from the committee run by the Senator from Oilahama. Of course, what can you expect from public "servants" who have not the slightest clue about the Internet, let alone anything scientific?). The program is scheduled to be re-broadcast Saturday at 8pm.