Surface weather map at 1pm today from NWS/NCEP/HPCToday will go down in the record books with a high of at least 68, the temperature at midnight through 2am. On the other hand, after a cold front went through last night, a strong gradient wind between a low pressure area to the east of James Bay in Canada and a high pressure area centered in Missouri early this afternoon is bringing cold, gusty winds to the Washington metro area. Temperatures at mid afternoon ranged from 50 to 55, and winds were gusting as high as 31 mph in the immediate area; Patuxent River reported gusts to 36. Radar was mainly clear, but a few isolated sprinkles were scattered around the region. I saw some drops on the windshield while I was driving in the Kensington/Rockville area around the middle of the day.
Tonight and TomorrowThe big question for tonight is whether the official low will finally break 40 for the first time this fall. The models are almost unanimous in predicting 39 degrees, so it seems at least possible, and mid 30s are on tap for the suburbs. Tomorrow will be sunny and less windy, with highs in the mid 50s.
Weather Channel Celebrity Forecast: Keep Your Day Job!Last night's debut of Lewis Black on the Weather Channel's new Celebrity Forecast feature was underwhelming to this viewer. A review of the TiVo replay reveals just 2 tiny snippets in the initial hour of midnight to 1am EST. The first, at about 25 minutes after the hour, was a 45-second piece in which Black was introduced and lamented having gone to acting school when broadcast meteorology was so much "easier". The second, at 55 after the hour, reintroduced Black, plugged his book, and then had him doing a short shtick on how water vapor maps are actually derived from hospital sonograms. I think I'll stick to Comedy Central for Black humor; the Daily Show's writers are definitely better.
In other broadcast news, WaPo
reported yesterday that the "Category 7" disaster movie had lower ratings than its "Category 6" predecessor. It did however, attract 10 million more eyeballs than the average CBS Sunday movie. It also pushed "Desperate Housewives" down to its lowest audience of the season.