Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Slow Storm: A Turkey of a Travel Day

Now

Cold rain. Rain from a slowly moving strong storm off the Carolina coast arrived in the Washington metro area about 6 hours ahead of when it was "progged" by yesterday's models, throwing an extra spin into what is already a traditionally challenging travel day. The good news is that the earlier arrival implies an earlier departure as well, and a high pressure ridge building into the region afterward promises the reward of a much nicer weekend. (For the weekend details as well as the Travelcast, scroll on down to Dan's post below.)

Besides being driven by a northerly wind gusting over 25 mph at times, the rain is accompanied this afternoon by temperatures in the upper 30s after morning highs in the low to mid 40s. Radar late this afternoon showed a sharp cutoff of the precipitation to the northwest with the western edge from a little west of I-81 in VA to near Harpers Ferry WV and York PA. The heaviest rain was in a band from just north of Richmond northeastward across southern MD and into southern DE.

Pictured: Beach scene yesterday at Kill Devil Hills, NC, where winds gusted to 59 mph, from the Virginian Pilot. Alligator River, NC, had a gust to 82 mph. Storm total rainfall amounts on the Outer Banks were over 6" at Hatteras and Ocracoke (6.92") with considerable flooding.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Rain, possibly heavy, then ending. Rain tonight may be heavy at times, especially to the southeast of DC. Lows will be in the upper 30s to near 40°. Rain should taper to showers tomorrow morning, ending around noon with highs in the upper 40s.

No comments:

Seasonal Outlook

Latest seasonal forecast: Click here.


Latest 3-month temperature outlook from Climate Prediction Center/NWS/NOAA.