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Spring Delayed, But Only For a Day

Dan Stillman @ 2:00 PM

The official start of spring came last night at 8:07 p.m. Despite a cool day today, the weather will catch up with the calendar by tomorrow, with spring-like conditions remaining in place through the weekend.

Today


Forecast Confidence: HighCool, cloudy. Temperatures will struggle on this first full day of spring as skies become mostly cloudy. Highs 45-50. Tonight, mostly cloudy with a slight chance (20 percent) of a shower. Lows in the low-to-mid 40s in town, upper 30s to near 40 in the burbs.

Tomorrow


Weekend Rain Timeline

1pm to 6pm SAT: 30% chance of scattered showers.
6pm to 10pm SAT: Showers likely, gradually increasing intensity.
10pm SAT to 10am SUN: Moderate to heavy rain; localized flooding possible.
10am to 2pm SUN: Rain ending from SW to NE; winds gusting to over 25mph.
Forecast Confidence: HighThis is more like it. Spring settles in with a partly sunny and mild day. A breeze out of the south should warm temperatures to highs of 65-70. Overnight, partly cloudy with lows near 50.

Friday


Forecast Confidence: MediumMild, chance of showers. As a stationary front drapes itself across the area, we'll see partly cloudy skies and a chance of showers (about 30 percent as of now). Temperature-wise we'll stay warm with highs in the upper 60s to low 70s. Overnight, the chance of showers may increase to as high as 50 percent. Under partly to mostly cloudy skies, look for lows in the upper 40s to low 50s.

The Weekend


Forecast Confidence: Low-MediumContinued mild ... Showers? On Saturday, we could still be dealing with clouds and some shower activity due to the stationary front and, potentially, an area of low pressure that develops along the front. Highs in the 60s. Shower chances may persist Saturday night as lows dip down to the 40s. For Sunday, there's uncertainty as to whether high pressure will try to work its way in and give us increased sunshine, or if the front will continue to hang around with clouds and showers. Highs in the mid 60s to near 70.

What's So Normal About Normal?


Both Matt and Steve have mentioned in recent days how temperatures have been either well above or well below normal through most of March. But the truth is, although this month may be an extreme example so far, it's pretty normal for the weather to be "abnormal." Like a series of runs in a basketball game, more often than not it seems temperatures and precipitation go on above-normal and below-normal streaks, with relatively few periods falling in the near-normal category. In other words, what we refer to as normal is really just an average of extremes.

What I'm curious about is the perspective on this from the weather-consuming public out there. Do you buy into the hype that the media, sometimes including us here at CapitalWeather.com, creates about above-normal and below-normal temperatures or precipitation? Should we as forecasters redefine what "normal" is? Maybe normal should cover a larger range of temperatures or precipitation amounts, with terms such as "above normal" and "below normal" reserved for conditions that fall outside the increased range. Or, is it just more exciting -- gives everyone something to talk about -- to look at the weather as always being wild and crazy?

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