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Forecast: Heat & humidity make weekend return
Air quality alert today
* Can wind make Strasburg pitch faster? | The mysterious green flash *
* Outside now? Radar, temps & more: Weather Wall | NatCast *
Hot, humid, and dry. I sense an unwelcome pattern here.Today: Hazy, hot and humid. 89-93. | Tonight: Mostly clear and warm. 68-74. | Tomorrow: Sunny and hot. 91-95. | A Look Ahead | Get Express Forecast by E-mail
FORECAST IN DETAIL
What is it about hot weekends this year? For the fourth straight weekend, we're talking heat and humidity. Not since the Saturday of Memorial Day has a weekend day not closed in on 90 or higher. We should be around 90 today and a even a little higher tomorrow. And the heat continues into next week. Rain chances for the next few days are non-existent to remote. I imagine many folks will be watering their grass/plants this weekend.
Today (Saturday): Mostly sunny skies (attenuated somewhat by haze) mean no rain worries today for your outdoor plans, but there are a few weather and health concerns. We've got an air quality alert (code orange - unhealthy air for sensitive groups) and very high to borderline extreme UV levels. So take it easy and remember to wear sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat. With highs heading into the low 90s and increasing humidity, you may find the morning and evening hours more pleasant and healthy for strenuous and/or prolonged outdoor activity. Confidence: High
Tonight: Mostly clear skies overnight but a bit muggy. Lows only fall into the low-to-mid 70s in the city, with upper 60s in the cooler suburbs. Confidence: High
Keep reading for the forecast into early next week...
Tomorrow (Sunday): A weak front moving through early in the morning brings in some modestly drier air by late in the afternoon, but it's probably too little too late. With considerable sunshine, air temperatures climb into the low and even mid-90s before winds from the west and northwest (at around 10 mph) drop the humidity some. Confidence: Medium-High
Tomorrow Night: It won't be quite as muggy as Saturday night, but still on the mild side. Under clear skies, temps bottom out near 70 in the city, with 60s in the suburbs. Confidence: Medium-High
On Monday, the first official day of summer, we see sunny skies and more hot weather. We climb back up into the low 90s with moderate humidity levels. As winds start to come back out of the south, the humidity builds Monday night, with lows in the upper 60s to mid-70s (suburbs-city). Confidence: Medium-High
The combined heat and humidity may become oppressive Tuesday, with highs 90-95. I'll introduce a slight chance of p.m. t'storms but odds are only around 20%. Confidence: Medium-High
By
Jason Samenow
| June 19, 2010; 5:50 PM ET
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Posted by: schrute | June 19, 2010 7:53 AM | Report abuse
Good grief.
CWG, please clean up the first 2 "spamolicious" postings above. Thank you!
Gotta go water the garden now.
Posted by: FIREDRAGON47 | June 19, 2010 9:19 AM | Report abuse
I hope CWG et al can give me some clarification. I've heard on at least on TV weathercast that there allegedly a "cool" front expected to come through late Sun., they said this is a "dry" front, little chance of rain, I get that, however, they also say it will only drop the dewpoint slightly and still be in the 90s on Mon. What is a cool front if it dosn't cool the air down? And when we get into June through Sept., why bother with lifting our hopes up when you know we will be in the triple H's during this time of year?
Posted by: VikingRider | June 19, 2010 1:10 PM | Report abuse
The 'cold front' is mostly just a brief change in source region of the air and a wind shift etc -- unfortunately the 'cooler' source is also warm. There's been some chatter about the Bermuda High but in reality I think most of our heat recently has been more related to upper level ridging over the center of the country that migrates/builds east as a series of surface highs. There is ridging in the Atlantic as well but the center is further east than a true Bermuda High, at least for now. We end up getting south winds as high centers drift offshore only to be replaced with a new advance of the upper level ridge to from the west.
Posted by: Ian-CapitalWeatherGang | June 19, 2010 2:25 PM | Report abuse
Is the ~10mph wind tomorrow a pretty sure bet? I'm hoping to spend the morning sailing on the Potomac. Wish I could have done that today, but maybe tomorrow will be just as good?
Posted by: --sg | June 19, 2010 2:33 PM | Report abuse
Continued rain threats Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday...hardly a "dry" summer IMO, though the threat may be rather small right where I am. That's some sort of rain threat 50% of the time.
Posted by: Bombo47jea | June 19, 2010 2:42 PM | Report abuse
Thanks CWG for your definition of "cold front". I think the local TV weather people could a better job of defining these things...I think us everyday people can understand weather jargon. I also think that it is more difficult to forecast the summer weather down here than in winter. Systems tend to be slower so that many times, when there is prediction of a "cold front" coming through, it dosn't happen. I live in Central Maryland, I don't care much about the weather in southwestern Va., the NJ area, or West Va.
Posted by: VikingRider | June 19, 2010 4:25 PM | Report abuse
Greets
I notice there is an air quality alert today, apparently for excess ground ozone.
Has there been any change in the number of aq alerts this spring than last year?
Thanks
Ubimea
Posted by: ubimea | June 19, 2010 4:46 PM | Report abuse
@ubimea
I think this is the second air quality alert of 2010. I don't have a record of how many we had by this time last year. It certainly wasn't as hot.
Posted by: Jason-CapitalWeatherGang | June 19, 2010 5:19 PM | Report abuse
Something on the radar to the west.
Something completely not predicted.
Will it fall apart before reaching the metro area? Right now it appears to be a clearly defined line of precip.
I would very much like to not have to start watering at 8:00AM Sunday to beat the brutal heat. If we could get a good surprise rainstorm tonight that would be super.
Posted by: FIREDRAGON47 | June 19, 2010 10:56 PM | Report abuse
High today 85.8 in the Blue Ridge Mtns... thunder heard recently... now getting a shower. 73.1F
Posted by: spgass1 | June 19, 2010 11:02 PM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.
Please change the NatsCast. I believe the game was switched to 4:10pm start.