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Drought severity levels this week (as of May 15) compared to last week (as of May 8) (U.S. Drought Monitor) This time last week, drought had crept into southern Frederick and all of Montgomery county in Maryland. After one to two inches of rain through Tuesday morning, drought conditions have retreated from those areas.

Despite the short term relief, central Maryland and northern Virginia are on the brink of drought. They are designated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as “abnormally dry”.

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Today: Sunny, comfortable. 74-77. | Tonight: Mostly clear, cool. 45-55. | Tomorrow: More sun. 76-79.| Get Express Forecast by E-mail

A somewhat subjective rating of the day’s weather, on a scale of 0 to 10


Light breezes, low humidity, lots of sunshine make today a perfect score. Get the Digit on Twitter| Discuss on Facebook

We have a winning weather pattern for at least next 72 hours with solid sunshine, comfortable daytime temperatures in the 70s, and cool overnight lows. In the Dog Days of summer, this is a sort of period we can look back on fondly- a real spring crowd-pleaser. I’m still suspicious about Sunday though as a low pressure area near the coast could bring in some clouds and maybe even some shower chances late Sunday into Monday. If the low fails to visit, temperatures should go warmer (80s).

Today (Thursday): Today offers an excellent excuse for an extra walk outside as temperatures are as comfortable as they can get. Solid sunshine allows morning temperatures in the 60s to excel to afternoon temperatures in the middle 70s. Light winds from the north. Relative humidity is going to be low, so my only concern is that any lingering or newfound pollen may be floating around again for our biggest allergy sufferers. Confidence: High

Tonight: Pleasant with clear skies and cool temperatures. It may actually be too cool in the outer suburbs with mid-to-upper 40s there and more like mid-50s in the city. Confidence: High

For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend...

Nationals vs. Pirates
Today, 7:05 p.m., Nationals Park

First Pitch	9th Inning	Weather	Chance of Rain
72	66	Mostly clear skies with very pleasant temperatures.	0%

No problems from the weather side here!

NatCast appears on the day of every Nationals home game. Also, if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

It’s been a pretty decent day out there, with temperatures reaching highs in the 80s most spots. Perhaps a bit cooler than I expected in the morning forecast, thanks in part to a bit extra cloudiness and a slower shift in winds to the west. But, that wind shift is here, and humidity levels are already dropping. By tomorrow, that taste of summer will be a memory for a while.

Through Tonight: A line of showers and storms to the north may try to advance on the area this evening, but it’s going to be losing steam while doing so, and likely won’t make it. After sunset and heading into the overnight, the odds of rain drop to about zero. Otherwise, it’s partly to mostly clear. Lows dip as far as the low 50s in the coolest suburbs to around 60 downtown.

Tomorrow (Thursday): Sunny and spectacular. There may be a few clouds around early, though this should end up one of those deep blue sky days in the end. Highs head for the mid-70s most spots! A light north wind only adds to the brilliance of the day.

See my forecast through the weekend. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter . For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock.

Where have all the hurricanes gone? After the historic 2005 season and hurricanes like Katrina, some proclaimed that type of season to be the new norm in a warming climate. Almost on cue, a very quiet period, at least as far as U.S. landfalling major hurricanes go, ensued. Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. posted this graphic, showing how the current drought is the longest on record. Anthony Watts followed up with additional info. See also Jason Samenow’s blog post on this from last year.

Pollen update: Susan Kosisky from the US Army Centralized Allergen Extract Lab writes, “Tree count is HIGH at 141.53 grains/cubic meter. Grass count is MODERATE at 10.86 grains/cubic meter, which is HIGH for local area grass counts. Weed count is LOW at 0.64 grains/cubic meter. Mold spore count is HIGH at 13197.37 spores/cubic meter.”

Arctic sea ice extent since 1979 during April. Red dot indicates 2012. (National Snow and Ice Data Center) Perhaps you’ve heard Arctic sea ice extent has fully recovered after nearly setting record low levels in September, 2011. You may have even heard its extent reached record-breaking high levels. What’s going on?

It is true that the Bering Sea reached a record high extent during the month of April. Much has been made about this record by some bloggers but not much attention has been paid to the other side of the world, where ice extents have been well below normal.

Let’s break down the data a little bit and explore just how Arctic ice extent is faring compared to recent years and what it means.