Fine Fall Fare

Now

Sunny, cool. With the clouds from yesterday's cold front having retreated to central and southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, it's a picture-book fall day in the Washington metro area. Temperatures by mid afternoon were into the mid 70s at most locations. The rainfall from the front was quite spotty, with DC and all of its contiguous suburbs receiving less than a measurable amount. If it weren't for the roughly 40% monthly excess of precipitation built up from the early part of the month, drought concerns could be developing. Despite the large excess of total rainfall, there have been only 6 days with measurable amounts this month, compared with the 30-year climatological average for September of 7.2.

Precipitation map for the 24 hours ending 8am this morning from NWS.

Tonight and Tomorrow

Seasonable. Lows tonight under mostly clear skies will be near 54° downtown to the mid and upper 40s in the cooler 'burbs. Tomorrow will again be sunny with highs near 77°.

For the outlook through the rest of the week and the weekend, scroll down to Jason's post below.

Tropical Topics

The National Hurricane Center reports, "There are no tropical cyclones at this time."

Although it was still a strong storm with maximum winds near 70 mph, Helene lost its tropical characteristics, and the last public advisory was issued at 11am yesterday.

Mediarology: "I can't solve complex crimes in an hour."

The Weather Channel's highly-hyped Abrams and Bettes: Beyond the Forecast debuts tonight at 8pm, complete with its own web page. It was previewed in last Tuesday's PM Update.