Dry Run Continues

Now

Gradual clearing: Despite juicy dewpoints, a weak front passing through the Washington metro area at an unfavorable time (around noon) with little upper-air support wasn't enough to generate any serious precipitation. Dulles briefly reported light rain but only a trace of accumulation. Regional radar shows thunderstorms limited to a band from just south of Charlottesville to the Northern Neck of Virginia.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Warm, less humid: The main effect of the frontal passage will be a clearing trend into this evening and lower humidities. Lows tonight will range from the low 70s in the city to the mid 60s in the cooler 'burbs. Tomorrow will be sunny and less humid with highs in the upper 80s.

Scroll down to Jason's post below for the outlook through the weekend.

Dry August

Despite the near-normal conditions in July, rainfall in the first half of August has been quite low in the area. The experimental precipitation analysis from NWS shows that very few places inside or near the Beltway have received even as much as 0.5" (green-shaded areas) in the last 2 weeks. Much of northern MoCo has less than 0.1" (light blue), and there is a small strip near the Howard County line with no rain at all.

Tropical Topics

The two areas of recent interest remain in the tropical Atlantic. The low pressure area just north of the Bahamas has appeared better developed, but the reconnaissance flight has been put off until tomorrow. The low pressure area off the coast of Africa which was looking strong yesterday has weakened, and development is no longer expected.