Well, that was pleasant! Strong southwest winds pushed temperatures well into the upper 60s this afternoon, with both BWI and Dulles hitting 70 degrees and National spiking at 72 degrees. No word yet from the Sterling office, but judging by these numbers, the record at Dulles was blown away. Baltimore is currently tied for its daily record high with National oh so close to the record as well. And just think, less than two days ago we had a stretch of over 72 hours where the temperature never got above 32 degrees.
| Airport | Record (Year) | Todays Temperature |
| BWI | 70 in 1890 | 70 |
| Dulles (IAD) | 63 in 1995 | 70 |
| National (DCA) | 73 in 1975 | 72 |
Tonight:
Winds will remain rather gusty from the southwest through much of the early evening, gradually weakening by 8pm or so. Temperatures will remain quite mild, with most of us staying in the low to mid 50s for much of the period. Lows should range from 48-54 degrees. Southwest winds at 10-15 mph will switch to a more northerly direction early tomorrow morning. Mostly cloudy with a chance of a light rain shower between 1-5am.
Our mini heat wave is all but gone by Friday night. Via Tropical Tidbits
Friday:
It won’t be nearly as warm as today, but I doubt there will be too many complaints. Despite a north wind, most of us should reach the upper 40s to low 50s under a mix of sun and clouds. Some partial clearing in the early afternoon will give way to increased cloud cover by tomorrow evening with temperatures starting to fall as well. Winter makes a quick return tomorrow night with a low around 30 degrees and a chance at some light snow late.
For the Weekend:
A tricky forecast for Saturday. The mid-Atlantic will be the focal point for a boundary between warm air to the south and cold air stuck at the surface. This will set the stage for a wide range of wintry precipitation on Saturday. We should all start as light snow late Friday into Saturday morning, before a changeover to freezing rain. How much freezing rain falls is still up in the air, though guidance isn’t hinting at a lot of moisture so the thinking right now is that totals will be lower than the freezing rain event of a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, travel on Saturday morning into Saturday afternoon will potentially be dangerous and ill advised. Stay tuned for some important updates over the next 12/24 hours.