Continued Clear and Comfortable

Now

Sunny, not quite as cool. This afternoon's weather map shows a large high pressure ridge extending from eastern Canada across most of the eastern half of the U.S. and into the northern Gulf of Mexico. Despite a light northeasterly breeze, the strong September sun (today's noon sun angle was 52°) has raised metro area temperatures generally into the low 70s, with a few higher readings. Culpeper was the warm spot in the region at 4pm with 79°; the major local airports were both 73° but BWI was a couple of degrees cooler. Humidity is also in the very comfortable range; dewpoints are in the upper 40s to low 50s. The nearest showers on the national radar map are over northern Florida.

Surface weather map at 1pm today from IntelliWeather

Tonight and Tomorrow

Clear and comfortable. Under mainly clear skies, lows tonight will be a little warmer than last night, ranging from the upper 50s downtown to the upper 40s in the 'burbs. Tomorrow will be much like today, but with highs 75-79°.

For the outlook through the rest of the week and into the weekend, scroll on down to Jason's post below.

Tropical Topics

The main area of interest in the tropical Atlantic is a wave associated with some showers and thunderstorms off the Florida coast and over the Bahamas. The National Hurricane Center sees the "potential for subtropical or tropical cyclone formation over the next couple of days" as this system rotates westward around the large high pressure ridge across Florida and into the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

School Daze: $$$$$

Attention students (and anyone paying tuition for students): As another school year begins, the American Meteorological Society has posted a reminder of its various undergraduate and graduate scholarships in the atmospheric sciences. Most deadlines are February 8.