"Successfully peek through", not peak.

Thanks anonymous spelling police! -- now fixed.

Very humid this morning; not much else going on. Sterling mentions diminished but persistent convection/thunderstorm risk thru Wed. as frontal boundary lifts north and dissipates tomorrow.

Bertha continues to pose a threat late in the week if recurvature does not proceed rapidly. Best bet is for strong tropical storm or Category 1 hurricane. Ocean temps are not quite as warm as in late August, so the hurricane won't intensify much if it upgrades from tropical storm status. This storm is currently a threat to Bermuda, Bahamas and the East Coast but still can recurve.

El Bombo, thanks for reminding me to check on Bertha. With her projected path, even this far out, it's time for me to start worrying.

And, they feel the need to chime in on every board, discussion, etc. Note to all spelling police: you are not wanted.

Sunny this afternoon. 80 to 80+ degrees. My thermometer [near a brick wall] reads "90". No rain nearby but mass of activity in WV has Sterling talking "flash flood guidance". This rain seems to be tending NE and may not hit us directly. I hear that Stafford, Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg have been getting hit the most over the weekend.

NCEP/Camp Springs seems to think that Bertha could be trending to right or northward in a few days and might not come this far west. Biggest landfall threat could be to Bermuda. Storm still bears watching.

The developing thunderstorms seem to be rotating counter clockwise as if a low is developing. You can't see it on the site radar but on the regional and national radar it is quite evident.

JT - are you referring to the Atlantic/Bertha or to the storms in our region now?

Max: ...I think JT is referring to the thunderstorms in our area...

and as of the 5PM advisory on Bertha, it is expected to curve closer towards Bermuda, so it appears that she is going to pose less of a threat to us.

Let's not get uptight about the so-called "spelling police". I see nothing wrong with those of us who do each other a favor pointing out significant spelling and punctuation errors. Yes, it can sometimes get monotonous, but it can also define the meaning....and the intended meaning.....of the word itself.

Here's a good example: Lightning and Lightening. One could be mispelled and confused for the another. If you say there's LIGHTNING in the sky, that, of course, is a thunderstorm-induced electrical discharge. But if you say there is LIGHTENING in the sky, that simply means that the amount and color of the clouds is changing and getting less dark.....not necessarily anything to do with a thunderstorm.

There are many other examples as well, but I think you get the picture. And I welcome any corrections to any significant spelling errors I make...I certainly won't complain about them.

Obviously I was talking about the developing thunderstorms in our area. Those to the southwest and southeast.

You're right, it is very cloudy in areas. The weird thing about the rain is that it starts out weak, then heavy, then it suddenly stops, then suddenly the rain comes back really heavy!

The skies just opened up here in Lake Ridge.

I was standing outside, about to take a picture of the really really dark cloud hanging over our building, when it opened up and got really bright. As I was typing this there was a faint clap of thunder in the distance. It's about time it started raining...it's only looked threatening for 2 days now...

Here is what it looked like just after a MINUTE of rainfall, this demonstrates how heavy and how fast it comes on:

(You can see a solid column of water coming out of the gutter in the lower right hand corner)

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7888/dscf0178li7.jpg

I just heard a clap of thunder just as "I don't mind if it rains a little" started coming out of the CD player. A few minutes ago we had a few seconds of large raindrops hit our skylight.

OK, CWG. I LOVE this website and use it as my primary source of weather information. BUT...on so many of the posts here it seems that rain=bad and sun=good. That's bugging me.

The way it's been raining this summer those of us who shop at local farmers markets should see some unbelievably good produce. Tomatoes, for example, require an inch of rain a week AND abundant sun to grow well. This summer we've enjoyed so many days that have been both sunny AND rainy, the veggies should be fantastic.

Having fun outside is great, but so is eating. And you can't eat very well in a drought.

(Unless you experienced flooding, in which case your garden would also have suffered. But I'm trying to think in big picture terms here.)

It's pouring in Woodley Park right now.

More thunder and intermittent bursts of rain.

Laura I've been posting on this site from the first day. You are correct and I think that those who are rain=bad, sun=good are for the most part the clueless who live in the city or in apartments and don't realize that our trees and plants need rain to survive the winter. Farmers need rain so you can eat, suburbanites need rain so their lawns can survive, and towns with their own water systems need rain to keep the aquifers full so water restrictions don't have to be enforced.

Somebody has to be out of power here in Chevy Chase. Simultaneous thunder/lightning a minute ago. For all I know it hit the lightning rod on our high rise.

It feels pretty wet here in Fairfax, VA but a Thunderstorm may develop. Darn.

Tropical systems are not "he" or "she", even if they are given names. They are not living things with a gender. You'll notice that the Tropical Prediction Center does not refer to them by gender.

Laura -- Thanks for the feedback. We realize rain is a good thing a lot of the time. But rain on a holiday weekend isn't viewed positively by most weather consumers -- and that's who we tend to cater to. Having said that, we'll keep your feedback in mind.

At least it hasn't rained lately. I like the rain because it was pretty cool. Good for the environment too. Also, You are very correct Laura. Rain is great, mostly. I thought about that too but I don't usually post things like that. Good thinking!

"You'll notice that the Tropical Prediction Center does not refer to them by gender."

Curmudgeon: Then why do they give them gender specific names?

A few rumbles of thunder here in Sterling, no rain. After seeing the radar, I think I've discovered the "Sterling Split"!

On a side note, I found where Bertha formed to be very interesting, as it was so close to Africa. Didn't a tropical storm hit Spain one year? I can't recall its name.

I remember Tropical Storm Bertha. I hope it does not hit North America even though it most likely will. Did Bertha hit Africa on the Western Coast or formed super close to it?

Model Monkey -- I'm out here just west of 7 and 28, and it poured down rain here just after 8. Even heard a bit of thunder.

Tropical Systems were originally only identified by latitude and longitude, which was confusing when there were several storms at once. The Army Phonetic Code was then used, and then for many years female names were used. I believe male names were used starting in the 1970s.

Once again, it is incorrect to refer to storms as "he" or "she". Weathercasters and others who do are mistaken, and sound uninformed.

Please contact the National Hurricane Center if you want clarification. I have, and the policy is that they are inanimate objects and should not be referred to as "he" or "she".

Curmudgeon: Sorry for not following NHC policy. I'll refer to it next time I talk about tropical systems...

Amrit Singh: TS Bertha this year was the first storm to form as far east as IT did in the beginning of July.

Model Monkey: Tropical Depression Vince made landfall in Spain in 2005 ;)