Junier Conditions on the Way for Father's Day

Now

Cloudy, cool. It's another cloudy and cool afternoon in the Washington DC metro region today as we close out the first half of the month. Temperatures have struggled to get out of the 60s, but by mid afternoon, all reporting locations in the immediate area were at 70° or a little above.

Radar is clear within about a 300 mile range, except for some very isolated showers in extreme southwestern Virginia. The good news is that sunnier, more June-like conditions are expected for the weekend. The bad news is that mugginess will increase also.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Clouds diminishing, warmer. As clouds decrease somewhat tonight, lows will range from the mid 50s ('burbs) to low 60s (urbs) with comfortable humidity. Tomorrow will be mainly sunny with highs near June averages at 80-84°. There is a slight chance of showers or thunderstorms in the afternoon.

For the outlook through the rest of the weekend, scroll on down to Camden's post below.

Still Starving for Moisture

Although this week's rains have helped reduce the moderate drought which was developing in the region through June 9, the 60-day precipitation percentage of normal from NWS (right) shows large deficits through this morning. DC and all adjoining counties are at 75% or less of average, with wide areas at 25-50% (dark orange). Although measurable rain fell the last 3 days, National recorded less than ¼" total. Dulles, on the other hand, had 1.35", but BWI reported 0.12" on Wednesday and only a trace on each of Tuesday and Thursday.

Tropical Topics

A reconnaissance flight was tentatively scheduled today to investigate an area of shower activity over the northwestern Caribbean, but it was canceled because the showers had become less organized than yesterday.

Climate Corner

Last week's SciFri on NPR broadcast live both hours from Alaska on the effect of climate change on the Arctic. Podcasts are available on the web site.