Summer Continues Going Out Like a Lamb

Now

Excellent. Temperatures in the Washington metro area were mainly in the low 80s at mid afternoon, although a few spots were only in the upper 70s. Dewpoints are quite pleasant, and the radar is dry for hundreds of miles in all directions.

Tonight and Tomorrow

More of same. Lows tonight under mostly clear skies will be near 65° downtown to some upper 50s in the cooler 'burbs. Tomorrow will be sunny with highs much like today's, in the low 80s.

Scroll down to Josh's post below for the outlook through the weekend and beyond with Larson's Long-Range.

Tropical Topics

Florence's expected strengthening has been delayed; maximum winds were still 50 mph through the 5pm advisory. The storm's large breadth, however, means that tropical storm force winds extend as much as 400 miles from the center. The forecast track continues to show it moving northward near, and to the west of, Bermuda. Recent forecasts have been bringing the track gradually closer to the island.

Climate Clues

A new study published in today's issue of the journal Nature offers more insight into the feedbacks associated with global warming, and the news is not good for advocates of complacency. The article, "Methane bubbling from Siberian thaw lakes as a positive feedback to climate warming", describes the results from a new, more accurate, method of measuring the release of methane from thawing permafrost. The data show that the rate of methane emission may be 5 times as large as previously estimated. This is especially significant for the greenhouse gas budget of the atmosphere because tremendous quantities (tens of billions of tons) of methane have been stored in permafrost for tens of thousands of years, and methane is 23 times as effective in trapping heat as CO₂. The original article requires a subscription, but Nature has published an online news article discussing the results. Other news articles are available from:

• The Beeb: "Methane bubbles climate trouble"
  
• National Geographic: "Methane Belches in Lakes Supercharge Global Warming, Study Says"
  
• New Scientist: "Siberia's pools burp out nasty surprise"

(Both the Paper of Watergate and All the News That Fits We Print seem to have been content to join the Benton Crier in reprinting the Associated Press story online.)