DC-area forecast: Patchy clouds, sunshine and storms

Always a human at the helm: Updated around-the-clock by Capital Weather meteorologists.

Happening now: Mostly cloudy skies, patchy fog and scattered showers this morning. Some sun this afternoon with highs in the 80s. More downpours possible toward evening.

What’s next? Less humidity and lower rain chances Wednesday, but humidity, storm chances, and clouds return for later this week.

Today’s daily digit — 6/10: Sixty percent of me is appreciating this reprieve from big heat and any rain is helpful, but 40 percent of me would like to see more sunshine and lower humidity. 🤷 Your call?
The digit is a somewhat subjective rating of the day’s weather, on a 0-to-10 scale.

Forecast in detail

Today (Tuesday): A cloudy and muggy morning with patchy fog and even a few scattered showers. Skies may become partly sunny at times this afternoon as highs pop into the mid- to upper 80s and it's rather humid (dew points in the low 70s).

Scattered showers and thunderstorms arrive later this afternoon and into the evening, with heavy downpours possible. Highly variable rainfall totals, but locally up to an inch could occur in heavier downpours, especially south of DC. Winds are from the northeast at 5 to 10 mph except gustier around storms. Confidence: Medium

Tonight: Cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms, especially this evening. Locally heavy downpours are possible but some areas may miss the rain. Showers are still possible overnight as lows fall into the upper 60s to mid-70s. Winds are from the northeast at 5 to 10 mph. Confidence: Medium

Tomorrow (Wednesday): The early morning could see cloudy skies and even a light shower or two. But then this looks like our best weather day of the week with partly sunny skies and cooler highs in the low to mid-80s. Humidity eases with dew points falling through the 60s. Winds are from the northeast at 5 to 10 mph. Confidence: Medium-High

Tomorrow night: The humidity pours back in with partly cloudy skies and lows in the upper 60s to mid-70s. A slight shower chance exists, too. Confidence: Medium

A look ahead

Higher humidity on Thursday with partly to mostly cloudy skies, and highs in the 80s to near 90. Numerous afternoon to evening thunderstorms are a good bet. Thursday night brings more chances for scattered shower and storms with lows in the upper 60s to mid-70s. Confidence: Medium

Friday may start cloudy and then see some sunnier intervals in the afternoon pushing highs to around 90 with moderate to high humidity. Afternoon to evening thunderstorms could develop yet again and linger into the evening hours. Muggy Friday night with partly cloudy skies and lows in the upper 60s to mid-70s. Confidence: Medium

The upcoming weekend continues with periods of cloudy skies, some mugginess, and daily storm chances. Saturday is the steamier of the two days with highs in the mid- to upper 80s. Highs ease to the low to mid-80s on Sunday, when humidity may drop some. Showers and storms are possible Saturday night with lows in the 60s to low 70s. Confidence: Medium

Next week looks like more of the same: muggy highs near 90 – which is around the norm, and daily chances of showers and thunderstorms.