Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Stuck in the 70s
Dan Stillman @ 11:40 PM
Update (3:00 pm): While overcast skies prevail to our north and east, sunshine has bumped temps at all three area airports into the low 80s. So much for today's headline. Stay tuned for Steve's PM Update.
Despite an average high this time of year in the low 80s, the high temperature has failed to reach 80 the last four days, and may continue to fall short of that mark until at least the weekend, in part due to unsettled weather expected tomorrow afternoon through early Friday. The forecast details follow ...
Low pressure moving up the coast should stay far enough offshore to give us only a slight chance of a shower. Under partly cloudy skies, wake-up temps in the low-to-mid 60s should rise to an afternoon high in the mid-to-upper 70s. (The Eastern Shore will likely be cloudier and several degrees cooler, with a better chance of showers.) Tonight, partly cloudy with lows around 60.
Pictured above: Follow the clouds associated with today's offshore low pressure system. Visible satellite image is courtesy NASA GHCC. Time stamp is in UTC (subtract 4 hours to get Eastern Daylight Time). Click here to animate.
Tomorrow
Although the coastal low exits to the northeast, it looks like another area of low pressure will form in its wake. The result will be another partly cloudy day with highs in the upper 70s and a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms during the late afternoon and evening. Overnight looks cloudy with showers likely and lows in the low-to-mid 60s.
Pictured: Beautiful sailing weather Tuesday near Annapolis on the Skipjack Stanley Norman. By CapitalWeather.com photographer Kevin Ambrose.
Lingering showers are possible early in the day as the second low pressure system departs to the northeast. It'll be mostly cloudy early, but we could see some late-day clearing depending on how fast the low moves off. Look for a high in the mid 70s, possibly upper 70s if we get some afternoon sunshine. Overnight, clearing skies with lows in the upper 50s to near 60.
Both days look to be at least partly sunny. The one glitch is a stationary front that will be hanging out to the south. We'll have to watch this over the next couple of days to make sure it's not going to creep northward enough to increase our clouds and give us a chance of an afternoon shower or thunderstorm. For now we'll call the weekend mostly dry with highs in the upper 70s to near 80, and a Saturday night low in the mid 50s.
Despite surging costs, the Pentagon has decided that development of a series of next-generation weather satellites for civilian and military use will continue, but without some of the sensors that some scientists were counting on. The National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is considered key to maintaining and improving the accuracy of three- to seven-day weather forecasts. The first NPOESS satellite is scheduled to launch no earlier than 2012.
Pictured: Artist's rendition of NPOESS satellite, courtesy NOAA.
"An Inconvenient Truth" -- the documentary-style movie that follows Al Gore around the country as he passionately makes the case that global warming is a real and serious threat -- has made its way to a scattering of theatres across the nation, including a few in the DC area.
As Boston Globe columnist Peter Canellos points out, I don't think we'll see the movie's true impact until it opens at hundreds of theatres nationwide on June 16. But early indications are that it will spawn more than its fair share of political rhetoric.
My hope is that the movie's lasting legacy will be to spur the media to action. The media should be embarrassed that it has allowed such an important scientific issue to be reduced to a politically motivated back-and-forth between special-interest groups, liberals and conservatives. What I'd like to see come in the wake of this movie are probing interviews of prominent scientists on the Sunday morning news shows, or a televised forum moderated by Tim Russert or the like that brings together scientists and science writers to hash out the global warming debate, if there really is a debate.
The way things stand now, the American public doesn't know what to believe. And who can blame them?
Despite an average high this time of year in the low 80s, the high temperature has failed to reach 80 the last four days, and may continue to fall short of that mark until at least the weekend, in part due to unsettled weather expected tomorrow afternoon through early Friday. The forecast details follow ...
Today
Low pressure moving up the coast should stay far enough offshore to give us only a slight chance of a shower. Under partly cloudy skies, wake-up temps in the low-to-mid 60s should rise to an afternoon high in the mid-to-upper 70s. (The Eastern Shore will likely be cloudier and several degrees cooler, with a better chance of showers.) Tonight, partly cloudy with lows around 60.
Pictured above: Follow the clouds associated with today's offshore low pressure system. Visible satellite image is courtesy NASA GHCC. Time stamp is in UTC (subtract 4 hours to get Eastern Daylight Time). Click here to animate.
TomorrowAlthough the coastal low exits to the northeast, it looks like another area of low pressure will form in its wake. The result will be another partly cloudy day with highs in the upper 70s and a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms during the late afternoon and evening. Overnight looks cloudy with showers likely and lows in the low-to-mid 60s.Pictured: Beautiful sailing weather Tuesday near Annapolis on the Skipjack Stanley Norman. By CapitalWeather.com photographer Kevin Ambrose.
Lingering showers are possible early in the day as the second low pressure system departs to the northeast. It'll be mostly cloudy early, but we could see some late-day clearing depending on how fast the low moves off. Look for a high in the mid 70s, possibly upper 70s if we get some afternoon sunshine. Overnight, clearing skies with lows in the upper 50s to near 60.The Weekend
Both days look to be at least partly sunny. The one glitch is a stationary front that will be hanging out to the south. We'll have to watch this over the next couple of days to make sure it's not going to creep northward enough to increase our clouds and give us a chance of an afternoon shower or thunderstorm. For now we'll call the weekend mostly dry with highs in the upper 70s to near 80, and a Saturday night low in the mid 50s.Weather Satellite System Lives to See Another Day
Despite surging costs, the Pentagon has decided that development of a series of next-generation weather satellites for civilian and military use will continue, but without some of the sensors that some scientists were counting on. The National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is considered key to maintaining and improving the accuracy of three- to seven-day weather forecasts. The first NPOESS satellite is scheduled to launch no earlier than 2012.Pictured: Artist's rendition of NPOESS satellite, courtesy NOAA.
Early Returns on 'Inconvenient Truth'
"An Inconvenient Truth" -- the documentary-style movie that follows Al Gore around the country as he passionately makes the case that global warming is a real and serious threat -- has made its way to a scattering of theatres across the nation, including a few in the DC area.
As Boston Globe columnist Peter Canellos points out, I don't think we'll see the movie's true impact until it opens at hundreds of theatres nationwide on June 16. But early indications are that it will spawn more than its fair share of political rhetoric.
My hope is that the movie's lasting legacy will be to spur the media to action. The media should be embarrassed that it has allowed such an important scientific issue to be reduced to a politically motivated back-and-forth between special-interest groups, liberals and conservatives. What I'd like to see come in the wake of this movie are probing interviews of prominent scientists on the Sunday morning news shows, or a televised forum moderated by Tim Russert or the like that brings together scientists and science writers to hash out the global warming debate, if there really is a debate.
The way things stand now, the American public doesn't know what to believe. And who can blame them?
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