Forecast: High Heat Takes a Hike
Still warm; lower humidity but eventually increasing
Let's all take a deep breath. For the first time in a week, we're not staring down the barrel of severe storms or a major heat wave. Just some typical June weather with highs mostly in the upper 80s to near 90 and lower, but eventually increasing, humidity. The next best chance of storms comes not until Saturday. Phew!
Sunny. Warm. Lower humidity. Upper 80s. Sunshine and much lower humidity will make for a pretty nice day with highs in the upper 80s. Winds from the north, around 10-15 mph in the morning with gusts to 20-25 mph, should settle down to near 10 mph for the afternoon. Tonight, clear and comfortable with lows in the upper 60s downtown, low to mid 60s in the burbs.
Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend.
A flight departs from Reagan National last evening with lightning behind it. By Capital Weather Gang photographer Ian Livingston.
TOMORROW (THURSDAY)
Partly to mostly sunny. Upper 80s to near 90. A little humid but not too bad for this time of year as highs head for the upper 80s to near 90 under partly to mostly sunny skies. Overnight, mostly clear with lows again in the upper 60s downtown, low to mid 60s in the burbs.
A breeze from the south increases the humidity for Friday, but not as bad as it's been recently. Temperatures should make the upper 80s even with a bit more in the way of clouds, but still a decent amount of sun. A few showers or storms could pop up in the afternoon or evening, but mainly west toward the mountains. Confidence: Medium-High
Partly sunny Saturday and humid with a better chance of afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms, including in the immediate metro area. Highs in the upper 80s to near 90. Confidence: Medium
A chance of showers and storms may very well continue Saturday night and into the day Sunday, when highs should reach the 80s, but as of now Sunday doesn't look like a washout. Confidence: Low-Medium
By Dan Stillman |
June 11, 2008; 5:00 AM ET
Forecasts
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Posted by: missy | June 11, 2008 8:51 AM
Here ya go missy, this explains it better than I ever could: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microburst
You might have had one, because I remember there being talk of "microbursts" at one point yesterday.
We made through everything A-OK last night. All of the storms that Lake Ridge got (one developed over us, actually, the storm the District got around 930 or so?) didn't turn in to the hail producing, wind blowing monsters they were until they got into Fairfax. We got just a bunch of thunder and some heavy rain, is all.
It was 73 degrees at 9:15 this morning according to weatherbug, and my thermometers (which are never in agreement, which is strange, because they're only 5 feet from each other, weirdos) say 76 and 75. When I left for the bus yesterday morning at 6:30 AM, it was in the mid 80s. That was sickening.
At least it'll be nicer than it has been the last few days. :)
Posted by: weatherdudeVA (Lake Ridge) | June 11, 2008 9:22 AM
Thanks for the info...the winds were definitely blowing in opposite directions, like the graphic shows. And it seems the heavy stuff was blown horizontally more than up into the air. Are there some kind of graphic images recorded that would show this on radar or something?
Posted by: missy | June 11, 2008 9:33 AM
@missy, I'm glad no one was hurt and the tree didn't do too much property damage either!
Posted by: ~sg | June 11, 2008 9:48 AM
missy: Here is something from the NWS. They say there is a microburst in the radar somewhere, but I don't see it.
Posted by: weatherdudeVA (Lake Ridge) | June 11, 2008 10:43 AM
Surprizingly, we did not get any rain in the Tantallon area. Thunder, lightning and rain all around us in Waldorf, Alexandria and DC...but nary a drop for us. Guess I'll have to haul out the sprikler this evening to help the plants after all that heat!
Posted by: Ft Wash | June 11, 2008 2:53 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Hey,
Just wondering if anyone wants to provide some more detail on "microbursts" and exactly what they are...not sure if that's what hit us here in east Manassas, but I'm curious to know. During yesterday's storms, about 7:45 or so the wind started crazy blowing around the rain sheeting in the backyard. As we watched out the window, walls of rain and wind started swirling in every direction, including up. So, prudently, we headed for the basement. The wind roared. After the hail we came upstairs to see the huge oak that hung threateningly over the upstairs bedroom (I blogged worrying about it during ice storms before this winter) had crashed down, but not toward the house as it leaned or toward the drive as it twisted but totally in the opposite direction toward the back of the house. Miraculously, it missed the roof, only shaved the gutter and landed atop three other criss-crossed trees. This mess has kept the big tree (parts of the trunk three feet diameter) suspended over but off the fence, over but off the deck, and into but not onto the landscape pond and waterfall my son and husband worked years to build. The heavy metal deck table was blown into the house, and two heavy wooden chairs were slammed into the fence. Does this sound like a microburst? I don't notice any other wind damage in our neighborhood, which lost power until 2am or so in the morning.