Tuesday, August 01, 2006
We've Got a Hot One Today
Dan Stillman @ 11:25 PM
| National | Dulles | BWI | |
| Today's high temp as of 4pm: | 99 | 97 | 98 |
| Record for the day (year): | 100 (2002) | 99 (2002) | 100 (1955) |
| † = ties the record ‡ = breaks the record | |||
The signature phrase of American Idol's Randy Jackson provides an apropos headline for today. The core of an intense heat wave will send temperatures soaring toward record highs and heat indices into the dangerous levels, with little improvement until sometime Friday. An Excessive Heat Warning remains in effect through tomorrow as power demand reaches new heights and Washingtonians learn how to deal.
Today and Tomorrow
Unrelenting heat. The forecast for the next two days requires few words, but large numbers ...- High temps: 98-102
- Heat indices: Topping 110°
- Chance of shower or t-storm: Slim
- Overnight lows: Around 80 in town, mid 70s in the burbs
Record Watch
- Today's record highs are as follows:
National: 100° (2002) ... Dulles: 99° (2002) ... BWI: 100° (1955) - Yesterday's high of 100 at BWI set a record for the day, breaking the previous record of 99 set in 1933.
- Reagan National's high of 98 fell just short of the record of 99 in 2002.
- Dulles came in with a high of 97, three degrees below the record of 100 in 1980.
Friday
Stubborn heat ... strong storms? Our ticket to relief is a cold front slowly approaching from the north (currently making its way southward through the Upper Midwest). Unless it speeds up, I don't think it'll make it here until late in the day, which means another steamy morning and very hot and humid afternoon, though a bit more in the way of clouds may limit high temps to the more reasonable low-to-mid 90s. Then, look out for possibly strong late-day showers and thunderstorms (35% chance) to linger into a warm and muggy evening.The Weekend
We'll take "the usual." Near-normal temps will be a welcome treat after a week of historic heat. On Saturday, the cold front is likely to have stalled out close enough to our south to give us a partly cloudy day with a 25% chance of showers and thunderstorms, highs in the upper 80s to near 90, and slightly lower humidity. On Sunday, weak high pressure tries to build in and push the front further to the south, reducing the humidity a bit more and lowering the chance of precipitation to below 20% -- highs around 90.The Heat is On, But how About the Power?
Local utilities including Pepco are urging customers to conserve electricity, especially during the peak usage times of 3-7pm. Pepco set a record for power usage yesterday, unofficially clocked at 6,858 megawatts. The main culprit is non-stop running of air conditioners, and as such the power company is suggesting that residents set thermostats higher than usual if health permits. Pepco and Dominion are reporting only scattered outages.
Tropical Storm Chris
Since developing into a tropical storm yesterday morning, Chris has been making its way west-northwest through the Caribbean with maximum sustained winds near 65 mph. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center expect Chris to strengthen somewhat, possibly into a Category 1 hurricane by tomorrow afternoon, as it moves in the general direction of south Florida. If Chris stays on track, it could be within striking distance of the U.S. mainland by Sunday.
Comments are closed for this archived entry | Link | 
Email this post
Email this post
