Hard Rain Gonna Fall?

Well, not yet, anyway. Despite a nearly stationary front lurking in the vicinity and juicy dewpoints for the season in the mid to upper 50s, rain showers have been slow to penetrate the drought-dogged DC metro area. I encountered a brief shower in the Shady Grove area of Rockville/Gaithersburg early this afternoon, but it was barely enough for a few swipes of the windshield wipers. National Airport reported less than half an hour of light rain in the 2-3pm hour; the total amount was a trace, and Dulles received the same amount. Radar at mid afternoon showed some showers generally eastward from near Charlottesville across the Northern Neck and up and down most of the Eastern Shore.

Live radar loop above, courtesy WJLA. Refresh page to update.

Temperatures are holding in the mid 60s under easterly winds, although National was 2 degrees higher at noon with 67.

Mr. Model, the PM edition, (or at least the first one out of the gate) is still insisting on getting some rain onto the ground by 8pm tonight, but from the looks of things right now, the best chance for some drought-denting, if not drought-busting, rain in the next 36 hours looks like the period from late morning Saturday through Saturday evening. The heaviest amounts, however, are predicted to the northwest of the District. The graphic to the right shows the model forecast of the 12-hr precipitation ending at 8pm Saturday. The amounts in blue range up to 1.25"

Tonight and Tomorrow

Lows tonight under overcast skies will be in the mid to upper 50s. The chance of showers will increase from 60% through this evening to near 100% by tomorrow morning. The best chance of showers this evening is southeast of the Beltway. Showers and possibly thunderstorms are likely tomorrow with highs in the mid 60s.

Which Way the Wind Blows

Regular readers may recall that we remarked last year on the fact that Bob Dylan's music is heavily influenced by weather imagery. Yesterday's WaPo Reliable Source column revealed that Dylan's debut as a disc jockey on DC-based XM Satellite Radio May 3 will feature an hour of weather-related music. Some of the tunes, according to the Reliable Sourceresses, include: Muddy Waters's "Blow Wind Blow," "Just Walkin' in the Rain" by the Prisonaires and "Place in the Sun" by Stevie Wonder. The XM press release gives some more details, including the fact the Stevie Wonder tune is sung in Italian. Track lists will be posted on a special Bob Dylan web page on the XM site.

60s and 70s Greatest Hits

A big fat high pressure area parked over the Mid Atlantic region is allowing a strong dose of "Mellow Yellow" through the bright blue sky. Along with a "Wind-a velocity nil", it's a "So Fine" day here in the Washington DC metro area. If you don't have your mower ready for the season yet, it's "too late baby, now." With the weekend's rains and the "Good Day Sunshine", the roar of the 2-cycle engine will soon be abroad in the land.

Surface weather map at 1pm today from IntelliWeather

By early afternoon, temperatures had reached or exceeded 60 in all locations, but the dewpoints in the upper 20s or low 30s (except Ft. Belvoir!) made it almost impossible to break a sweat. Winds were variable mostly under 5 mph.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Lows tonight will be from the mid 40s city to upper 30s in the colder 'burbs under mostly clear skies. Tomorrow will be much like today, but with temperatures warming to around 70.

Omnimedia

The PBS NOVA science series is showing its annual rerun of "Hunt for the Supertwister" tomorrow night (8pm locally on WETA, channel 26). The program, which I have now seen twice since it was first broadcast 2 years ago, puts a lot of emphasis on Discovery-Channel-style storm chasing, but it has much better production values than the Weather Channel's "It Could Happen Tomorrow" series. It also manages to get in some real science, including by meteorology professor/storm chasing pioneer Howie Bluestein of the University of Oklahoma.

Image from pbs.org

Party On

A tip of the hat to site visitor PJ, who pointed out that the local National Weather Service Forecast Office in Sterling is inviting the community to an open house the last weekend of this month, from 9 to 5 on Saturday the 29th and noon to 5 on Sunday the 30th. There will be presentations on "Aviation and Marine Operations, Fire Weather, Tropical Weather, Severe Weather, CO-OP Program, and Hydrology." You can also attend a Skywarn class to become a certified weather spotter.