Warm and Muggy; Localized Showers and Storms

Now

Warm, humid, some storms. Shortly after 4pm, a small area of showers and thunderstorms extended from the far western corner of Montgomery County southwestward across the Potomac through eastern Loudoun County. This area was moving eastward and intensifying as it reached the northwestern part of the Beltway around 5:00. A strong thunderstorm in the Mt. Vernon area prompted a Special Marine Warning for the tidal Potomac and northern Chesapeake Bay until 6:30.

Otherwise, conditions have generally been variably cloudy, warm, and muggy in the Washington metro area, following yesterday's rain, shown on the map to the right. Temperatures were generally in the low 80s with dewpoints in the low 60s.

Precipitation analysis from NWS for yesterday and yesterday night's rainfall shows widespread areas over 0.5" (green) in the metro area, but heavier amounts to the southwest and east.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Lingering storms, warm, decreasing humidity. Some showers and thunderstorms may linger into the evening, especially along I-95 between Washington and Baltimore; otherwise, skies will be variably cloudy with lows 63-68°. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with highs in the low 80s and decreasing humidity in the afternoon.

After a midweek cooldown, warm and humid conditions will return by the end of the week. For the outlook through the rest of the week and weekend, scroll on down to Jason's post below.

Tropical Topics

The Atlantic and eastern Pacific are quiet today, but on the other side of the world a rare "super cyclonic" storm, Gonu, (T6.5, equivalent to Category 5) in the Arabian Sea is heading westward toward Oman, where a state of emergency has been declared. Sea conditions associated with the cyclone are forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department to be phenomenal. See pharmolo's Tropical Cyclones blog for history on this storm.