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Supremely Mild, Getting Wild?

Steve Scolnik @ 4:40 PM

DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 11 AM EST FRIDAY

Contrary to rumor, it wasn't because of the hot air emanating from nomination hearings on Capitol Hill, but temperatures in the Washington DC metro area rose to the 60-degree mark by early afternoon at many locations. Meanwhile, a low pressure area getting organized in the southern Plains is promising to bring more exciting weather to the area by the weekend, as Josh has already outlined. The chance that all of that could end up as some wet snow or flurries has Camden polishing up the Snow Lovers' Crystal Ball for possible reintroduction in his post for tomorrow.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Tonight should be mostly clear and seasonably mild with lows in the city in the lower 40s, upper 30s in the colder 'burbs. There is a good chance we will see a repeat of the heavy fog of last night. Tomorrow will be partly cloudy in the morning, increasing clouds in the afternoon. Highs will be in the low 60s, a few degrees cooler at Official Reporting Stations Near Cold Bodies of Water.

Indoor Climate

Today's WaPo Home section has an illustrated guide to understanding your Washington Gas bill. There is also a survey on local residents' thermostat habits. Channel 4 "metereologist" [sic] Tom Kierein is quoted as saying he keeps his thermostat at 68 at night. (What a wimp! We've got the thermostat set on 62 right now here at Afternoon Blog Central.)

Today's weekly natural gas inventories showed a reduction less than the seasonal normal, and prices have now almost completely erased their gains since Katrina. Of course, the January rate has already been set at $1.52, another 17% above December. What's up with that? Presumably, there will also be a lag when prices go back up again after their current drop.

"Man Pointing to Enormous Gas Bill" from Washington Post

Canary in the Frog Pond

The WaPo editors have allowed their environmental reporter to escape from her Undisclosed Location to today's front page with an article, "Warming Tied To Extinction Of Frog Species". A paper published in today's issue of the journal Nature attributes frog species extinctions to climate change. Since 1980, 112 amphibian species have disappeared. The current study by a team of U.S. and Latin American scientists has found a connection between warmer temperatures and the loss of dozens of species in Central and South America. The study's lead author is quoted as saying,
"Disease is the bullet killing frogs, but climate change is pulling the trigger. Global warming is wreaking havoc on amphibians and will cause staggering losses of biodiversity if we don't do something first."

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