Severe Thunderstorm Watch Until 10pm

Now

Showers, thunderstorms possible. Strong southerly breezes ahead of a strong cold front approaching from the west have pushed temperatures into the upper 70s this afternoon in the Washington metro area. Instability from the surface heating, lifting from the cold front, and strong upper-level energy support have prompted a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 10pm for DC, northern Virginia, and central Maryland.

Storms are moving rapidly from southwest to northeast, so there may be some local downpours, but the main threat is not so much from heavy rain, but rather strong, gusty winds. There have been some reports of scattered trees down in eastern West Virginia. Click on your county above for the latest watches or warnings, and refresh the page for the latest radar loop from Wunderground.com. Let us know in the Comments section of any activity in your area.

For the outlook through the weekend and beyond, including Larson's Long-Range, scroll down to Josh's post immediately below, or click here.

"I" of the Storm

Tropical Depression 9 developed late yesterday and became minimal Tropical Storm Isaac this morning with peak winds of 40 mph (up to 45 mph in the latest advisory). It is expected to follow the usual path so far this year of staying east of Bermuda.

Capitol Climate

The WaPo has been, shall we say, somewhat lukewarm in covering the subject, as we noted Tuesday in PM Update, but the paper contains an editorial today, "Heed This Warning", using the latest report from climate expert James Hansen as the basis for strongly urging an end to the current inaction in Washington on the issue of climate change. It concludes,

Most of all, it will require an end to denial -- denial that the problem exists, denial that anything can be done about it if it does and denial that the problem is urgent and requires immediate attention.