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Now
Mostly cloudy, mild. Despite morning fog heavy in places and some thicker mid-level clouds associated with a "back-door" front lurking just to the northeast, temperatures in the Washington metro area have again reached the 60s this afternoon; highs were 62° at National and at Dulles. November will finish out on a mild note before colder air reaches the Mid Atlantic region late on Friday.
Tonight and Tomorrow
Some clouds, continued mild. With cloudy skies and dewpoints in the 50s, low temperatures tonight will have a hard time reaching the 40s anywhere in the area, and fog is again likely by morning. Models are predicting temperatures as high as 72° tomorrow, but persistent clouds are likely to keep the maximum to around 65° with the slight possibility of some widely scattered showers, especially to the west.
For the outlook through the rest of the week and the weekend, scroll down to
Dan's post below.
Capitol Climate: Humming Along with The Supremes
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in the case
Massachusetts v. EPA. The case involves an attempt by Massachusetts, California, 10 other states, and some environmental groups to force the EPA to do its job by enforcing limits on CO
2 emissions. According to legal correspondent
Nina Totenberg on NPR's Morning Edition today:
The law mandates that the EPA shall regulate any pollutant from motor vehicles or power plants that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. That includes pollutants that affect weather and climate.
Despite year 2000 campaign promises to the contrary, the current Administration has refused to allow EPA to regulate CO
2, claiming it is not a pollutant and that the science is insufficient to determine its effects. Much of the argument in the case has centered on the technical issue of whether the states have the legal standing to bring the suit in the first place.
You can read more coverage of the case in the
BoGlo,
NYT,
USA Today,
San Jose Mercury News, and
Financial Times (via MSNBC). The carbon-based WaPo had no coverage today, although the silicon-based format has reprints of the
Reuters and
AP stories. The WaPo also
editorialized on the subject on Sunday. The SF Chron had an
editorial today.
Mediarology: Seasonal Outlook
Bob Ryan has issued his winter outlook, calling for a variable pattern with average temperatures and above average snowfall (no numbers given).