Forecast: A Quick Cooker
Only two hot days before next cold front
The 90s are back in the city for just a two-day engagement. Today should be the hotter of the two because of more daytime sun (lower 90s mainly). While potentially the hottest day of July so far, it is still not expected to rival the broiling period in early June when the D.C. area was burnt by upper 90s. By tomorrow, more clouds and a better chance of storms will turn the oven temperature down a bit. But you'll need to wait until Thursday and Friday to air out the kitchen.
Hotter day with more humidity and some afternoon rumblers. Lower 90s. Expect more sun than clouds in the morning, but then an increase in cloud cover by especially mid to late afternoon. Our winds will be pumping that hot and humid air into the area from the southwest. Temperatures and humidity will be on the up and up with highs in the lower 90s throughout the area (30% chance of late-day storms).
A muggy evening is in store with still a 30% chance of thunderstorms. Expect lows only in the lower to middle 70s (warmest in the city, of course).
Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend. See NatCast for the outlook for tonight's game.
TOMORROW (WEDNESDAY)
More clouds. More storms. But still hot. Near 90. With the cold front approaching the D.C. area doorstep by later in the day, clouds and humidity will still be rising. The likelihood of afternoon thunderstorms pops up to 50% throughout the area and the high temperature should be slightly lower than today's due to the extra cloud cover.
The cold front finally breaks through the area late on Wednesday night, but the cool air will not come in fast enough to avoid another mild low temperature, in the lower 70s. Expect a continued 50% chance of thunderstorms overnight too.
Thursday and Friday are favored to see a significant humidity break with dewpoints back down into at least the 60s and high temperatures in the middle to upper 80s. Partly to mostly sunny skies are expected, but it is summer and you still need to factor in a daily 20% chance of isolated thunderstorms. Confidence: Medium
The weekend is looking complicated on the latest rounds of computer weather models, but the general thinking right now is that heat and humidity will build back into the area, especially on Sunday. Highs could still linger in the upper 80s on Saturday with lower 90s a possibility for Sunday (along with scattered thunderstorms by evening depending on the timing of the next cold front). Hey, at least the cold fronts keep coming! Confidence: Low
By Matt Rogers |
July 8, 2008; 5:00 AM ET
Forecasts
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Posted by: DCU fan | July 8, 2008 9:23 AM
Apologies if this was covered in previous threads. I was surprised at how little rain we got in Alexandria for our wash-out 4th of July weekend. It looked like Richmond and points to the south got socked, but we didn't even get enough to water the garden.
Posted by: Huntington Mark | July 8, 2008 9:28 AM
Well, it looks like we'll still be battling thunderstorm chances, but they should be fewer and far between tonight vs. more widespread tomorrow. You'll just have to contend with the heat and humidity. Sorry.
Posted by: Matt Rogers, Capital Weather Gang | July 8, 2008 9:29 AM
Yes, Huntington Mark, it was more of a scattered storm story over the weekend with more "garden-variety" storms than anything (pardon the pun). I believe we'll have multiple chances though in the next one to two weeks to catch up on any rain shortfalls.
Posted by: Matt Rogers, Capital Weather Gang | July 8, 2008 9:31 AM
Huntington Mark, I noticed this too and was commenting all weekend. The "washout" forecast kept me at home much of the time while the big rains seemed to be hitting places like Fredericksburg and points south.
This morning started out rather clear while altocumulus invaded from S and W. Today they are forecasting less activity than tomorrow, so I plan to go to Ballston this afternoon.
Posted by: El Bombo | July 8, 2008 11:25 AM
DCU fan -- We only slated the RFK games for UnitedCast this season. (No slight on the importance of the USOC games ... it's just that the potential audience for UnitedCast is much greater for RFK games, usually around 20,000, versus the Maryland Soccerplex, where attendance is more like 3,000). That said, the forecast for tonight's game in Germantown should be similar to tonight's NatCast, minus a degree or two.
Posted by: Capital Weather Gang | July 8, 2008 11:46 AM
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What about UnitedCast? [For the Gaithersburg area not DC tonight]