Wednesday, September 21, 2005
85 and Sunny
Dan Stillman @ 12:35 AM
It's not often you can sum up an entire weather forecast in a three-word headline. This is indeed the kind of persistent weather that lulls meteorologists to sleep.
Mid-80s and partly to mostly sunny skies will be the general rule through the weekend. Maybe a shower during the day on Friday as a front passes through, but for the most part our dry spell continues.
Wells Wishing for Water
Around the beginning of the 3rd quarter of Monday night's Redskins-Cowboys game, I began to wonder which would come first -- a Redskins touchdown or a soaking rain. Neither seemed imminent. By now, unless you've been living under a rock, you know that by the end of the game the Redskins had beaten the rain, and the Cowboys, in quick and shocking fashion: Redskins 14, Cowboys 13, Rain 0.
Besides a scant .01 inches of rain on Sep. 15, the last time Reagan National reported more than a trace of precipitation was Aug. 28. The effects can be seen quite clearly in the graph below, which shows how the water level in a Fairfax County well has steadily decreased throughout the month of September.
More data on well water levels and stream flows can be found here.
Image courtesy USGS.
Texas Awaits Rita
After bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the Florida Keys, but few major problems, Hurricane Rita is now strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico and has her eye on the Texas coast. Rita was a Category 2 storm with 110 mph winds as of last night, and is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 before making landfall late Friday or early Saturday somewhere between Brownsville, Texas, and Lafayette, La.
Evacuations are already beginning in Galveston, which is near the center of the possible strike zone. For the time being at least, it looks like New Orleans, thankfully, is in the clear. The National Hurricane Center, or just about every news organization on TV and the Internet, has the latest.
Katrina Still Making Waves
Despite Rita, Katrina isn't quite ready to let go of the headlines, especially in the Washington area:
A Look Back at Some Familiar Names
On a recent surf across the Web, I happened upon www.wildweather.com. While it seems the site has been abandoned -- as far as I can tell it was last updated sometime last year -- those in the Washington area might be interested in the archives of its Meteorologist of the Month feature. Local mets Bob Ryan, Joe Witte and Baltimore's Bob Turk are featured, along with national types like Jim Cantore and Flip Spiceland.
Mid-80s and partly to mostly sunny skies will be the general rule through the weekend. Maybe a shower during the day on Friday as a front passes through, but for the most part our dry spell continues.
Wells Wishing for Water
Around the beginning of the 3rd quarter of Monday night's Redskins-Cowboys game, I began to wonder which would come first -- a Redskins touchdown or a soaking rain. Neither seemed imminent. By now, unless you've been living under a rock, you know that by the end of the game the Redskins had beaten the rain, and the Cowboys, in quick and shocking fashion: Redskins 14, Cowboys 13, Rain 0.
Besides a scant .01 inches of rain on Sep. 15, the last time Reagan National reported more than a trace of precipitation was Aug. 28. The effects can be seen quite clearly in the graph below, which shows how the water level in a Fairfax County well has steadily decreased throughout the month of September.
More data on well water levels and stream flows can be found here.
Image courtesy USGS.
Texas Awaits Rita
After bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the Florida Keys, but few major problems, Hurricane Rita is now strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico and has her eye on the Texas coast. Rita was a Category 2 storm with 110 mph winds as of last night, and is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 before making landfall late Friday or early Saturday somewhere between Brownsville, Texas, and Lafayette, La.
Evacuations are already beginning in Galveston, which is near the center of the possible strike zone. For the time being at least, it looks like New Orleans, thankfully, is in the clear. The National Hurricane Center, or just about every news organization on TV and the Internet, has the latest.
Katrina Still Making Waves
Despite Rita, Katrina isn't quite ready to let go of the headlines, especially in the Washington area:
- New Accents in the Halls of Area Schools
- Council OKs Help for Hurricane Evacuees In D.C.
- Katrina Washes Out Local Benefit
- BGE Blames Katrina for Rising Natural Gas Bills
- Katrina's Impact Reaches Va.'s Oyster Packers
A Look Back at Some Familiar Names
On a recent surf across the Web, I happened upon www.wildweather.com. While it seems the site has been abandoned -- as far as I can tell it was last updated sometime last year -- those in the Washington area might be interested in the archives of its Meteorologist of the Month feature. Local mets Bob Ryan, Joe Witte and Baltimore's Bob Turk are featured, along with national types like Jim Cantore and Flip Spiceland.
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