Threat Level: Elevated for Cold

Now

Variable cloudiness, seasonably cold. After some scattered flurries, temperatures have peaked out near 40° in the Washington metro area. Colder and drier air will be moving in late tomorrow and into Friday.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Partly cloudy, turning colder. Mostly cloudy skies tonight will give way to more sunshine tomorrow afternoon as colder air filters into the region. There is a chance of scattered flurries as the cold air moves in. Lows tonight will be from near 30° downtown to the mid and upper 20s in the 'burbosphere. Highs tomorrow will be near 37°, but turning colder late in the day and at night.

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

Hollywood Report

"An Inconvenient Truth" has been nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary category. The movie trailer is available online in Google Video, along with several other related videos. (Flash 7 or higher required, running time 1:37). See the 50-foot wall of water crush New York . . . Not!

Weather Humor

The Weather Channel, specifically, the Climate Code, was cited as the #1 item in the Colbert Report Threatdown last night, beating out even CNN, for reporting the truth about a phony Barack Obama story, and the "tree-huggers" of "The Wizard of Oz". The reason, of course, was its hidden agenda: Bears!

Video is available at ComedyCentral.com. (Look for the Threatdown Media Edition.) For TiVo fans, the segment begins at 0:13 of the show. The program is repeated tonight at 8:30. Make your own weather Threatdowns and submit them via the image upload function of the Comments section. The most humorous will appear in a future PM Update.

The Onion reported this story in its Jan. 24 Daily Dispatch:

Northeast Stunned By Freak January Snowfall
SYRACUSE, NY--"I've seen some freak weather, but this definitely tops them all," said area resident Mary Baloh, whose garden was slightly set back by the 1.5-inch snowfall.

Plants to People: Chill Out!

Now

Cloudy, damp, mild. After this morning's showers, it's a foggy, misty afternoon here in the Washington metro area, but temperatures are quite mild for the season, generally in the upper 50s and low 60s. A few more showers, and possibly thundershowers, will give way to near-record temperatures tomorrow while a more seasonable cold snap gathers on the horizon for the early to mid part of next week.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Showers ending, near-record warmth. There is a 50% chance of showers, possibly scattered thundershowers, overnight with lows only in the mid to upper 50s. Clouds will give way to sunshine during the day tomorrow with highs near 70°.

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

Plant Patrol

An article, "Kept From Hibernation By a Lingering Warmth", in today's WaPo Metro section surveys the recent unusual (and more usual) blooming patterns of the region's gardens. It quotes several local experts as saying that the plants will still be able to survive when the inevitable cold snap (and there will certainly be one) does occur.

Mediarology: Hype-ocracy

Having rerun all possible past disasters into oblivion, The Weather Channel is rolling out a new series of imaginary disasters The Day After Tomorrow (Sunday, 9-10pm). According to the on-air promos, these are the cities scheduled to die to the tune of a continuously pounding soundtrack in the new season of "It Could Happen Tomorrow": St. Louis (F5 tornado), Chicago (F5), Austin (wildfires), Houston (Cat 5 hurricane), Las Vegas (8.0 earthquake). The state of Hawaii is also scheduled to be demolished via tsunami, and there is an untitled shot of a crumbling Capitol dome under a looming presumably F5 attack. The TiVo on-screen schedule shows the Chicago and Houston programs to be the premiere back-to-back episodes of the new season.

Last January, when this series first went on the air, PM Update cautioned that the continued blurring of the line between news and entertainment can lead to a "cry wolf" effect that threatens to outweigh the possible educational benefits. The Weather Channel's Climate Code, which also debuted last year, is a very different kind of show, but it has sometimes been criticized by being lumped together in the same category. It has gone to great lengths to be objective and non-partisan (or at least bi-partisan; a Democratic and Republican governor were interviewed in the same segment), but it has still been accused of having a ratings-driven agenda. If this show is driven by ratings, why was it put on at 5pm Sunday . . . during football season?

Another example of the confusion between reality and image is the reaction to last year's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth." It has been attacked for hyping a 50-ft wall of water demolishing New York. Guess what? The drowning Statue of Liberty was in a completely different movie, although a comparable scene was used to promote "It Could Happen Tomorrow." If you're keeping score at home, turn to scene 21, time 1:00:23, of the DVD, to see how New York is presented. For reference, here is what the book, which is an extended version of the movie script, says about Manhattan (starting on page 196):

"If Greenland melted or broke up and slipped into the sea---or if half of Greenland and half of Antarctica melted or broke up and slipped into the sea, sea levels worldwide would increase by between 18 and 20 feet. . .
[quotation from Tony Blair's advisor]
[several pages of illustrations of Florida, San Francisco Bay, Netherlands, Beijing, Shanghai, Calcutta, Bangladesh]
. . . the picture at right shows what would happen to Manhattan if sea levels rose 20 feet worldwide. The site of the World Trade Center Memorial would be underwater. Is it possible that we should prepare for other serious threats in addition to terrorism? Maybe it's time to focus on other dangers as well."

Which particular part of that includes the hysterical 50-ft wall of water?

The plants may be more rational than the humans.

November Contrasts

Now

Seasonably mild. Our month of November contrasts continues as somewhat thinner clouds today have allowed temperatures to rise into the low 60s in the Washington metro area. Highs were 61° at National and 65° at Dulles. Meanwhile, across the country, cold air continues to penetrate the Pacific Northwest and the Northern Plains.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Some clouds, continued mild. Under increasing clouds later tonight, lows should range from the upper 40s downtown to the low 40s in the 'burbs.
Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with some sun and highs in the mid 60s.

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

Snow in Washington!

As viewers of Monday Night Football already know, you could have seen snow in Washington yesterday, but you'd have needed to cross the continent to do it. On top of the already record-breaking November rainfall, the Seattle metro area received a relatively rare several inches of snow yesterday. As of this morning, only 0.09" of additional precipitation was needed to break the all-time Seattle monthly record of 15.33" which was set in 1933. Only a trace of snow fell earlier today, and skies were mostly sunny with temperatures in the mid 20s early this afternoon. The forecast indicates that another storm moving in from the Gulf of Alaska will bring more precipitation tomorrow night and into Thursday.

Photo of Seattle-Green Bay football game last night from USA Today.

Political Science

The National Science Teachers Association today issued a press release in response to the Sunday WaPo Outlook section article by Laurie David about the distribution of "An Inconvenient Truth" DVDs cited in yesterday's PM Update.

Fall Fading Fast

Now

Cloudy, cold. As we enter the last 10 days of meteorological autumn, a big southerly dip in the jet stream, accompanying northwesterly breezes at the surface, and a mostly overcast sky have prevented temperatures from breaking 45° in much of the Washington metro area this afternoon. National's high of 46° occurred before 11am, and the high at Dulles was only 43°. Meanwhile, radar shows very widely scattered snow flurries in the mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

As the jet stream dip becomes cut off from the main flow, potential holiday travel problems will develop and linger into the end of the week, especially over the Southeast.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Chilly. As clouds break somewhat tonight, lows will be near 34° downtown to the upper 20s in the cooler 'burbs. Tomorrow will be partly cloudy and chilly with highs near 50°.

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

Multimedia

The DVD version of the climate change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" is being released tomorrow. The DVD is currently ranked #6 in sales at Amazon, where it is being sold at a 43% discount. Extras include commentaries by the director and the producers, a 30-minute update with Al Gore, a "Making of" feature, and a music video by Melissa Etheridge. The packaging is made from 100% recycled materials. A portion of the proceeds from the sales will be used to help support the bipartisan Alliance for Climate Protection.

Also shipping soon is the DVD "Storms of 2006". All of the profits from the sale of this video, a volunteer effort by 55 storm-chasing contributors, will be donated to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund. Last year's edition, "Storms of 2005", was exhibited at the American Meteorological Society national meeting earlier this year.

Good Ol' Summertime

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect for the area until 11pm.

OK, you know the drill by now. It's summer, it's warm and humid (although a little less so than yesterday), there's an extra source of moisture from the high ground water content, and there are a couple of triggering mechanisms in the form of two weak frontal boundaries in the region and some upper-level instability rolling through this evening.

Accordingly, the NWS has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the area until 11pm. The Flash Flood Warning for the Lake Needwood Dam in MoCo also continues. By 4pm, radar showed only isolated activity, some of which was locally intense, ranging over the map in location from upper MoCo (weakening as it moved eastward) to nearing Culpeper, to north of Charlottesville, and to west of Ocean City. The forecast for tonight through the weekend and beyond are below the fold.

---

Climate Corner: Comedy Central Coverage

Last night's Daily Show on Comedy Central devoted half the program to an interview with ex-next President Al Gore on the subject of his climate-change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth". The show will be repeated this evening at 8pm and most likely during their holiday break next week.

"What is so Rare as a Day in June?"

Following this afternoon's instability and last night's thunder-stolen sleep, a picture-perfect June day is shaping up for the Washington DC metro area tomorrow. At post time, however, another storm cell moving southeastward from the upper Potomac Valley appears to be taking a path downstream to the District and vicinity similar to the one earlier this afternoon. Expect northwestern MoCo to be affected in the next hour or so.

Outlook: Tonight and Tomorrow

Some stray showers or thunderstorms are still possible through tonight as a cold front pushes southeastward from the Ohio Valley. Lows will be near 60 in the city to mid 50s in the cooler 'burbs. Tomorrow will be reminiscent of summer in New England with a few scattered clouds, northwesterly breezes, low humidity, and highs in the mid 70s.

For the rest of the weekend, check out Camden's post below.

Tropical Topics

Rev up the reconnaissance planes. The prospect that a low pressure area in the northwestern Caribbean could become the season's first Atlantic tropical depression in the next couple of days was enough to raise energy prices in this morning's commodity market trading.

Climate Corner

The final figures from last weekend showed that the climate change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" was #9 at the box office nationwide, despite playing in only 77 theaters. It opens in more theaters this weekend.

Parts 2 and 3 of the PBS NewsHour's examination of the economic aspects of global warming Wednesday and Thursday night provided plenty of evidence that the inactivists are not only scientifically and morally bankrupt, but their economics are unsound as well.

Breaking the Dry Spell?

The two essential ingredients for showers and thunderstorms are moisture and vertical motion. With dewpoints at the ground from 68° to 72°, there is plenty of moisture around. The vertical motion for yesterday's storms was provided mainly by heating: a threepeat in the form of a third consecutive day of 90°+ temperatures.

Today is a somewhat different story, since a persistent high overcast has limited temperatures, at least by mid afternoon, to the low 80s. (This overcast, which has nevertheless allowed a fair amount of strong June sun to penetrate, led to forecasts for today ranging from 76 on a certain cable channel to 80 from the local NWS. For a check on how PM Update did, scroll on down to here).

Vertical motion is being helped today by a nearly stationary front draped across Pennsylvania. Therefore, more widespread storm activity is possible late this afternoon and through tonight. The NWS has issued a flash flood watch for Washington DC and the immediate area. By mid afternoon, radar was showing storms widely scattered from near Hagerstown to southwest of Richmond. These were generally moving northeast.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Showers and thunderstorms are likely late this afternoon through tonight. Some locally heavy downpours could produce flash flooding. Lows will be in the mid to upper 60s. Some showers may linger through early afternoon tomorrow, especially in the eastern portion of the region, with gradual clearing later in the day and highs in the mid 70s.

Yesterday's Rain

The map from the NWS of total precipitation centered roughly on DC shows that yesterday's rainfall was quite disappointing in much of the metro area. Except for a very small portion of far western MoCo where amounts were as high as possibly 2.5", most of the area saw 0.1" or less, and large portions of the District and adjacent Virginia were completely dry. Official DC reports were a trace at National and a whopping 0.02" at Dulles. BWI, which benefited from stronger storms in the Baltimore area, had 0.24". Amounts were also higher over the Bay and large portions of the Maryland Eastern Shore.

Climate Corner

The climate change documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth", which opens today in several area theaters, is reviewed in today's WaPo Style.

DC: Delightfully Comfortable

After some high clouds this morning, the Washington DC metro area is enjoying a beautiful late spring afternoon with sunny skies, northerly breezes, temperatures in the low 70s, and low humidity (dewpoints mainly in the mid 30s). As the high pressure currently dominating the Mid Atlantic region gradually slides eastward, temperatures will continue to warm and there is a chance for some much-needed showers tomorrow afternoon or evening.

Photo of yesterday's brilliant sunset by CapitalWeather.com photographer Kevin Ambrose

Tonight and Tomorrow

For tonight, increasing clouds will be accompanied by lows in the upper 50s in town to the low 50s in the colder 'burbs. Despite variably cloudy skies, tomorrow's highs should be near 80 with a 50% chance of showers by evening.

For the outlook Friday through the weekend, scroll on down to Dan's earlier post.

Political Science

The movie "An Inconvenient Truth" opens today in New York and Los Angeles and around the country through June. This documentary on climate change is based heavily on a presentation developed by former Vice President Al Gore to spread the word about this important topic.

Given the high visibility of the main actor and the polarized state of current politics, reports indicate that the slime machine has already geared up to trash the messenger. Fox "News" weighed in with a counter-documentary this past Sunday which featured only the very small minority of scientific skeptics. However, reporting from the Cannes Film Festival in today's NY Times, movie reviewer A.O. Scott says,

Appearances to the contrary, Mr. Guggenheim's movie is not really about Al Gore. It consists mainly of a multimedia presentation on climate change that Mr. Gore has given many times over the last few years, interspersed with interviews and Mr. Gore's voice-over reflections on his life in and out of politics. His presence is, in some ways, a distraction, since it guarantees that "An Inconvenient Truth" will become fodder for the cynical, ideologically facile sniping that often passes for political discourse these days. But really, the idea that worrying about the effect of carbon-dioxide emissions on the world's climate makes you some kind of liberal kook is as tired as the image of Mr. Gore as a stiff, humorless speaker, someone to make fun of rather than take seriously.

The movie gets good marks for its scientific accuracy from the RealClimate blog. Wonkette Ana Marie Cox has a review of the D.C. premiere in the online version of Time Magazine.

In DC, the film will be shown beginning June 2 at the E Street and Georgetown theaters. It will also be playing in the metro area at the Bethesda Row, Gaithersburg Rio 18, Shirlington, and Cinema Arts Fairfax. The AP reports, via USA Today, that the White House movie theater is not scheduling any showings.

The book tied in to the movie won't be released until June 13, but it has already risen to number 129 (up from 240 yesterday) on the Amazon.com bestseller list.

Zoning Out

It was exciting while it lasted, but the dip in the jet stream which brought Arctic air into the Washington DC area over the weekend has been replaced by more "zonal" (east-west) flow. The chart to the right shows the 500 mb height (approximately the middle of the atmosphere) over North America this morning. The colors represent areas of roughly equal height, and the solid lines are the barometric pressure at the surface.

The milder temperatures have reached above the long-term average, nearing or hitting 50° by mid afternoon throughout the area with westerly and southwesterly breezes. Despite the 17° departure below "normal" on Sunday, we are still nearly 2° above average for the month so far. A weak disturbance moving eastward south of the area will bring the threat of light precipitation tomorrow afternoon, mainly rain through central Virginia and some mixed rain and snow to the north.

Graphic from Unisys

Tonight and Tomorrow

Clouds will increase tonight with lows near 32 in the city and upper 20s in the colder 'burbs. Tomorrow will be cloudy with a 40% chance of light precipitation by late morning or early afternoon, mainly rain with some snow possibly mixed in to the north and highs in the mid 40s.

"In Life, Accuracy Counts"

It's not really about weather, but the "Weather Man" movie (2 Thumbs Up®) is out on DVD today. The movie, which is rated "R", stars Nicolas Cage as Chicago weatherman David Spritz, whose "professional successes are overshadowed by his personal failures." The DVD bonus features include:

• Extended Outlook: The Script
  
• Forecast: Becoming a Weatherman
  
• Atmospheric Pressure: The Style and Palette
  
• Relative Humidity: The Characters
  
• Trade Winds: The Collaboration

Nice November Start

High, thin clouds ahead of a weak cold front are keeping November 1 from being quite as spectacular as Halloween, but it's a nice start to the new month. Temperatures around the Washington DC metro area are in the range of upper 60s to 70. Showers associated with the front, a few of them moderate, were making their way at mid afternoon from just past Pittsburgh to Morgantown, WV and across western West Virginia.

Regional radar image at 3:53pm from The Weather Channel.

Today's forecast problem is not earth-shattering, but it does illustrate one of the classic dilemmas in forecasting for the Nation's Capital: Will it rain tonight as the cold front moves through? On the one hand, the models are remarkably low in their "POPs" (probabilities of precipitation). One of them, the "NAM", keeps the POP no higher than 8% through tomorrow morning. The latest model run, from data collected at 1pm this afternoon, brings light precipitation (up to 0.10") about halfway across Maryland before drying it out. The National Weather Service forecast discussion this afternoon says, "The models have been pretty consistent bringing this boundary through with very little measurable precip and rapid drying behind the boundary." On the other hand, there is the "look out the window" (or at least the Doppler radar screen) factor. The line of showers is quite respectable-looking, and it has already brought about 0.1" to Pittsburgh. There is, however, the matter of those pesky mountains between there and here which often break up the precipitation before it can reach the metro region.

My bottom line is: The long-term average number of days with measurable precipitation in November is the third lowest of the year at 8.5, but this is still 28%. The current situation is at least as likely as any random November day to produce precipitation. Therefore, I would have to say that the probability of precipitation is 30% tonight, rather than ruling it out, as the official forecast does. The caveats are: Any rainfall will be very light and scattered, and it is more likely to the north and west of the immediate metro area.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of light and scattered showers, lows near 49. Tomorrow will be sunny and a little cooler with highs in the mid 60s.

Tropical Beat

The tropics remain relatively quiet. There are several tropical waves across the Caribbean and Atlantic, but none of them are showing signs of development.

Broadcast News

I accidentally came across some nice hurricane video on NASA TV this morning, but it's not listed in the schedule. If you're flipping channels, you might want to look for it (channel 21 on Comcast Montgomery analog).

The NASA hurricane web page has an animated depiction of the 2005 hurricane season from Arlene through Wilma, including sea surface temperatures, clouds, and storm tracks. I didn't have time for the 2-hour download, so if anyone looks at it, please let us know in the comments how it looks.

WETA, channel 26, is broadcasting "Global Warming: The Signs and the Science" tomorrow night at 8:00. The show is hosted by Alanis Morissette; it "profiles people who are living with the grave consequences of a changing climate, as well as the individuals, communities and scientists inventing new approaches." A 2-minute preview is available to download.

Cinemania

The Weather Man movie got 2 Thumbs Up® from Ebert and Roeper last weekend. As Jason pointed out in his review below, it's not about meteorology; the science is somewhere between negligible and nonexistent.

Taking a Beta-ing

FROST ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO 8 AM EDT SATURDAY

Rain from a weak low pressure area off the North Carolina coast is remaining well offshore, and the Washington DC metro area is enjoying a mostly sunny late October afternoon, with temperatures in the mid 50s.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Clear skies and low winds tonight will allow temperatures to drop into the 30s in many locations, and there is a frost advisory in effect for the entire area, including the District itself. Tomorrow will feature sunny skies and highs around 56. The weekend, especially Sunday afternoon, looks like a fine time to get in that one last lawn mowing of the season.

Tropical Beat

Tropical Storm Beta continues to move slowly off the Nicaragua coast. The Miami Herald and Washington Post (Reuters) reported that the Colombian-owned islands of San Andrés and Providencia were being lashed by the storm. Its 65 mph winds at 5pm are expected to intensify to hurricane strength, possibly by tomorrow. If it does become the 13th hurricane of the season, it will beat the old record of 12. The forecast track along the Nicaragua/Honduras border puts it close to the region which was devastated by the flooding from infamous Hurricane Mitch in late October 1998. The toll from Mitch was the deadliest in the Atlantic Basin since 1780. Some unofficial rainfall reports from that storm were over 48 inches at the higher elevations.

A tropical wave in the central Caribbean is showing no signs of development, and its area of showers may be absorbed into Beta.

Climate Clues

An article about Arctic warming which was published online September 22 has appeared in the issue of Science magazine published today. The article, entitled "Role of Land-Surface Changes in Arctic Summer Warming", analyzes feedback effects from atmospheric warming. It finds that local warming caused by decreased albedo (reflectivity) from earlier snow melting is on the order of 3 watts per square meter per decade, which is comparable to the heating from a doubling of atmospheric CO2 alone. An accompanying analysis, "Tipping Points in the Tundra", says, "Environmental changes in the Arctic may be an early warning system for global climate change, and recent reports from the region are alarming."

Weather Man Movie

I agree with Jason that the "Weather Man" movie sounds like a mixed bag. I'm waiting to hear from Ebert and Roper (set your TiVo for 1:05am Sunday) to form my final opinion on whether it's worth seeing. If you do decide to go, showtimes and online ticket ordering are available at Moviefone.

Warming Washington, Wandering Wilma

After yesterday's high of 68 and a low this morning of 53, temperatures this afternoon in the Washington DC metro area are well into the upper 60s under bright sunny skies. This is likely to be the 15th day so far this month with temperatures at or above normal. The first half of the month has averaged almost 5 degrees above the long-term normal. I turned on my heat for the first time last night, probably the latest I've ever done so as a homeowner.

Tonight and Tomorrow

With diminishing winds and clear skies tonight, lows should be in the low 50s inside the Beltway and in the 40s in the outlying areas. Tomorrow will again be sunny and dry with highs around 75.

Tropical Beat

At 5am this morning, TD 24 became Tropical Storm Wilma. This is only the second time in over 150 years that 21 storms of tropical storm strength or higher have occurred in a single season. Wilma is only 2 days short of beating by a month the development of the previous 21st storm on Nov. 15, 1933. Wilma has also already exceeded the strength of that 1933 storm, which only reached minimal tropical storm strength of 35 kt (40 mph). At 2pm, maximum sustained winds were 50 mph; strengthening to a hurricane is expected. The storm has drifted southward recently, but a more westerly and eventually northwesterly track is expected. There is huge uncertainty in the path at this point, however.

Media Matters

The Weather Channel has begun running ads for the Weather Man movie starring Nicolas Cage as a Chicago TV weatherman whose "personal life is in complete disarray." The movie opens next Friday.

Tony Perkins will appear exclusively on Fox 5 when he returns to Washington, not on other Fox outlets as well, according to the dcrtv blog.

Also from dcrtv is the news that Comcast in the Baltimore area will be carrying the Channel 11 (WBAL) digital weather channel "11 Insta-Weather Plus".

Ophelia Pain

A high pressure area centered near the Washington DC region covers most of the eastern 2/3 of the country. Lawns are feeling the pain of the 15th consecutive day without measurable rain in the area. Temperatures at mid afternoon are in the mid to upper 80s, with dewpoints in the pleasant mid to upper 50s.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Tonight will be clear with lows around 63 in the city to near 60 or the upper 50s in the outlying areas. Tomorrow will be similar to today, but with temperatures a few degrees warmer, highs near 90, and a little more humid.

Tropical Beat

After making a small clockwise loop, Ophelia was downgraded to a tropical storm this morning with max winds of 70 mph. It is lumbering off to the northwest at 3 mph as of 5pm. Water vapor images show that dry air from the high over us is not only suppressing convection to the north, but it is even working its way around the southern portion of the storm as well. The track is still very uncertain, but the most likely scenario is for the center to graze the Outer Banks and then proceed back out to sea. The "pear" of uncertainty for the 1-3 day track includes southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore. The "Tropical Storm Force Experimental Probabilities" put DC just on the outer edge of the 20-30% probability of tropical storm winds for the 5 days from this morning through 8am Saturday.

The Katrina Channel

• Both Time and Newsweek have extensive analyses of Katrina's aftermath this week.
• The U.K. newspaper the Independent has an article discussing the environmental impacts based on an interview with Hugh Kaufman, "an expert on toxic waste and responses to environmental disasters at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)".
  
• Reuters has just reported at 3:30 that FEMA chief Brown has resigned.

Planet Hollywood

Among the movies scheduled to be released this fall (October 28) is "The Weather Man", starring Nicolas Cage as a TV weatherman. Here is the plot summary from the Internet Movie Database:

"Dave Spritz is a local weatherman in his home city of Chicago, who lives with his wife and kids. Despite being both loathed and loved by the local masses, Dave is a guy who doesn't seem to have it all together and he feels it. But an attractive job offer has one unlikely thing: to relocate to New York City. Despite all the advice his seemingly has it together father and a neurotic wife, Dave has to make a big decision that not only will affect his life but his family's as well."

Michael Caine plays Cage's father. The official web site contains the usual assortment of trailers and clips, as well as downloads of wallpapers and screen savers; AIM icons are "coming soon." Cage fan sites CageFactor and Cage by Page contain additional news items.

Real Boston TV weatherman Todd Gross, who owns domain weatherman.com, has this to say after viewing the trailer:

In the upcoming movie The Weatherman starring Nick Cage, a weatherman that appears to be a non-meteorologist works two hours a day and seems to more or less "wing it' from what I have seen of the trailers. In real life, hundreds of hard-working meteorologists are struggling with pages and pages of data to give you the BEST possible forecast and beat out the competition.

The Chicagoist reports that the film will close the Chicago International Film Festival on October 20.