Capital Weather Gang - DC area weather blog, news - October 12, 2008

This Weekend: Weather Service Open House

As I write this, the National Weather Service (NWS) Open House in Sterling, Va. is ongoing and will continue through 5 p.m. today, and noon to 5 p.m. tomorrow. All sorts of activities are planned along with tours, weather observing classes and a dedication ceremony for the newly constructed facility....

By Jason Samenow | October 18, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Government
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Forecast: Autumn Takes Hold

by Brian Jackson *Freeze Watch late Sunday night and Monday morning north and west of the District* After enjoying a super warm week, I suppose we have to pay our dues with the arrival of cooler weather. However, a few days of below normal temperatures is a very small price...

By Brian Jackson | October 18, 2008; 11:55 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Forecasts
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PM Update: Get Out Your Cool-Season Gear

Mostly sunny and continued chilly Saturday Temperatures: Current area temperatures. Powered by Weather Bonk. Map by Google. Hover over and click icons for more info. Click and hold on map to pan. Refresh page to update. See map bigger on our Weather Wall. Autumn rushed into town overnight last night...

By Ian Livingston | October 17, 2008; 3:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Forecasts
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Hurricane Calamity

Fictional Hurricane Calamity bears down on South Florida. Graphic created from a composite of NOAA images of Hurricane Andrew. Imagine a monster Category 5 hurricane -- we'll call it "Hurricane Calamity" -- on a steady westward, high-confidence track, within two days of a South Florida landfall. Calamity's size, intensity and...

By Steve Tracton | October 17, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Tracton, Tropical Weather
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Forecast: Finally Feelin' Like Fall

Daytime highs down about 20 degrees Finally, autumn arrives in full force. After a full week of highs in the upper 70s to low 80s, we drop down to mainly the 60s for the forseeable future. Gradually we'll see more and more sun over the next few days -- Sunday...

By Camden Walker | October 17, 2008; 5:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Forecasts
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PM Update: Cold Front Poised to Dislodge Warmth

Mostly sunny and much cooler Friday Webcam: Latest view of D.C. from the Netherlands Carillon at Arlington National Cemetery. Courtesy National Park Service. Refresh page to update. See this image bigger on our Weather Wall. A cold front now approaching the western sections of the area will move through this...

By Ian Livingston | October 16, 2008; 3:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Forecasts
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Partly Sandy

Screen capture of Baghdad current conditions from weather.com. That would've been the accurate forecast for today in Baghdad, where the Associated Press reports that a "heavy sandstorm turned Iraq's capital into a pinkish haze Thursday, sending dozens of people to the hospital with respiratory problems and delaying a number of...

By Dan Stillman | October 16, 2008; 1:45 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: International Weather
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Fall's First Colors Spread Through Washington

Orange leaves backlit by a setting sun on Tuesday evening in Glover Park, D.C. Mid-autumn is one of my favorite times for photography. The weather is typically quite pleasant, haze-free skies are the norm, and the trees show off their colors before the first real signs of winter arrive. While...

By Ian Livingston | October 16, 2008; 10:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Photography
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Forecast: Coolest Weather of Season On Its Way

Our recent remarkable warmth, (temperatures have averaged nearly 10 degrees warmer than normal over the past week), will linger for one more day -- today. But a cold front pushing through later today will bring this warmth to an abrupt end by Friday. I see much cooler weather for the...

By Josh Larson | October 16, 2008; 5:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Forecasts
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UnitedCast: Cloudy & Mild Soccer Weather

United vs. New England RevolutionThursday, 7:30 p.m., RFK Stadium KickoffFinal WhistleWeatherChance of Rain72F66FMostly cloudy; shower?20%If you're lucky enough to be going to the game, you'll be in for plenty of clouds with temperatures in the 70s at start, dropping into the 60s by game's end. A passing shower cannot...

By Josh Larson | October 16, 2008; 5:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: UnitedCast
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Remembering Hurricane Hazel

It's been a while since Washington, D.C., has seen hurricane-force winds -- 54 years ago today, to be exact. That's when Hurricane Hazel made landfall along the South Carolina-North Carolina border as a Category 4 storm and then tracked northward with its center passing just west of the D.C. area....

By Capital Weather Gang | October 15, 2008; 7:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Tropical Weather
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PM Update: Abnormal October "Heat" Continues

One more warm day Thursday, shower chance late Temperatures: Current area temperatures. Powered by Weather Bonk. Map by Google. Hover over and click icons for more info. Click and hold on map to pan. Refresh page to update. See map bigger on our Weather Wall. How warm has it been...

By Ian Livingston | October 15, 2008; 3:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Forecasts
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Omar on the Move. Paloma Next?

Courtesy HAMweather. All remains quiet in terms of tropical threats to the U.S. mainland. But the same cannot be said for the Caribbean, where Omar has become a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. Omar could strengthen as it moves northeastward toward the Virgin Islands and...

By Dan Stillman | October 15, 2008; 1:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Tropical Weather
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Earth as Art: Patterns in the Sky

Wx and the City Aleutian Clouds. Image courtesy of USGS National Center for EROS and NASA Landsat Project Science Office. More information about this image here. While visiting NASA's Landsat booth at a recent exhibit fair, I noticed what I thought was a color print of a beautiful piece of...

By Ann Posegate | October 15, 2008; 10:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Posegate, Technology, Wx and the City
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Forecast: Warm Weather's Last Stand?

Much cooler air on its way for Friday and beyond Our recent stretch of mild days with highs in the mid 70s to low 80s began Thursday of last week and will continue through tomorrow. If you're a warm weather fan, then you better savor the last two days of...

By Dan Stillman | October 15, 2008; 5:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Forecasts
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PM Update: Autumn Warmth Persists

Partly sunny Wednesday, above-average temperatures Webcam: Latest view of D.C. from the Netherlands Carillon at Arlington National Cemetery. Courtesy National Park Service. Refresh page to update. See this image bigger on our Weather Wall. If you like blue skies and warm temperatures, this was another in a string of great...

By Ian Livingston | October 14, 2008; 3:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Forecasts
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AccuWeather Calling for Cold Winter in the East

A wintry scene on the Mall. By Capital Weather Gang photographer Kevin Ambrose. Last week, AccuWeather's Chief Long-Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi issued his 2008-2009 winter outlook. The outlook calls for an "overall colder and snowier" winter compared to the last "several" winters for the East Coast. About the winter Bastardi...

By Jason Samenow | October 14, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Local Climate
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Forecast: Seasonal Sampler

Some summer and then some autumn A warm ridge in the upper atmosphere is wholly responsible for the very warm October weather that should continue to affect our area through Thursday. The Washington DC normal high temperature now is only in the upper 60s. So expected weather in the lower...

By Matt Rogers | October 14, 2008; 5:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Forecasts
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Freedman: Candidates May Shift Climate Research

In an article last week, I explored the climate science positions of the Republican and Democratic tickets. The story made clear that both presidential candidates agree with the consensus view of the scientific community that recent climate change is mainly the result of human activities, such as the burning of...

By Andrew Freedman | October 13, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (31)
Categories: Climate Change, Freedman, Government, Science
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Forecast: Summery Sunshine Sticks Around

Cooling trend late week Columbus Day will feel a lot more like Labor Day as temperatures climb to around 80 degrees. This unseasonably warm weather will continue for the next several days. Later this week, cooler air will gradually filter into the region and next weekend will feature more fall-like...

By Jason Samenow | October 13, 2008; 5:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Forecasts
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Facing Fall's Fury

Extreme Weather Alert: Meteorologists Predict Intensely Brisk Autumn...

By Jason Samenow | October 12, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Humor
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Forecast: Nothing But Blue Skies...

by Brian Jackson The sun will continue to smile on everyone, adding to an already pleasant long weekend for the majority of us. We'll be seeing afternoon highs about 10 degrees above normal for this time of year, along with dry weather and cool nights. This would be a good...

By Brian Jackson | October 12, 2008; 5:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Forecasts
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SkinsCast: Warm Fall Football Weather

Redskins vs. RamsSunday, 1:00 p.m., FedEx Field Kickoff2-Min WarningWeatherChance of Precip.73F78FMostly sunny & pleasant%Skins fans are in luck: game-time conditions will feature mostly sunny skies and temperatures rising through the 70s. While sunglasses, sunscreen and/or a hat may be advised, no jackets will be necessary! SkinsCast appears before...

By Josh Larson | October 12, 2008; 12:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: SkinsCast
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Capital Weather Gang: October 12, 2008 - October 18, 2008