Capital Weather Live

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

Happening now: Partly cloudy and muggy the rest of the night with sultry temperatures in the 70s.

What’s next? Probably a degree or two hotter Friday, again with a heat advisory for DC and east of I-95. At least mid-90s. Strong late-day storms could be more numerous, with a front entering the region. Somewhat cooler and less humid Saturday.

Forecast in detail

Tonight: Partly cloudy and muggy the rest of the night, after the earlier storms. Midsummer-like lows in a near 70 to mid-70s range. Maybe upper 70s in DC. Confidence: Medium-High

Tomorrow (Friday): Hot, hazy, humid. Partly sunny and probably a touch hotter than today, with highs mostly in the mid-90s. Heat indexes rise to around 105 as humidity remains high. Pretty good chance of scattered showers and storms, probably after 3 p.m. Some could be severe with damaging winds. Confidence: Medium-High

Tomorrow night: Scattered showers and strong storms could continue into the evening, followed by partly cloudy skies overnight. Moisture levels should begin to tail off overnight as breezes come from the northwest behind a cool front, with lows about 65 to 70. Confidence: Medium-High

A look ahead

Lower humidity for Saturday and a break from chances, too. We should see a good deal of sun, with highs in the mid- and upper 80s. Confidence: Medium

It should be hotter again Sunday. Given the added heat, it will be a bit muggier. Highs around 90 to 95, with the chance of some late-day storms. Confidence: Medium

Cooler to start the workweek. Highs should be around 80 for a few days before creeping back upward. Confidence: Medium

Today’s daily digit — 3/10: It'll be day 10 of 90 or higher. We average about four by now. Enough said. | 🤚 Your call?
The digit is a somewhat subjective rating of the day’s weather, on a 0-to-10 scale.

A wicked line of storms swept through the DC area Thursday evening, unleashing wind gusts near 60 mph and toppling trees in some areas.

The storms produced menacing skies as they passed through, featuring ominous shelf clouds. They are low, wedge-shaped clouds that form along the leading edge of a thunderstorm, often signaling the arrival of strong, gusty winds and cooler air.

Here are some of the scenes of the storms on approach:

Some of the photos in the wake of storms were jaw-dropping as well:

The situation: A line of strong storms with damaging winds tracked west to east across the DC region Thursday evening. There were numerous reports of downed trees and power outages, with some gusts up to 60 mph reported.

9:30 p.m. update: The storms have now moved east into the Chesapeake Bay and the severe threat is over for the DC region. Leftover showers could linger in some spots until about 11 p.m.

The storms produced gusts up to 60 mph at Reagan National Airport, downing trees and power lines in DC, Alexandria, and in southern Montgomery, Fairfax, Fauquier, and Loudoun counties. A gust of 74 mph was clocked at Joint Base Andrews in Prince George's County.

Power outages as of about 9:30 p.m. were reported at about 25,000 in Fairfax County; 10,200 in Fauquier County; 10,000 in Prince George's County; 6,300 in Loudoun County; 4,500 in DC; 3,000 in Charles County; 2,500 in Stafford County; and 2,300 in Montgomery County.

The storms also produced dramatic photos of menacing skies.

After the chance of some showers and storms Friday evening, much of the weekend looks quite nice at the Maryland and Delaware beaches!

Saturday: Expect a ton of sunshine with highs in the low 80s. Just a touch of humidity (dew points in the low 60s) with breezes from the north around 10 mph. Temperatures in the 70s Saturday evening dip to the mid-60s for overnight lows.

Sunday: Much of the day should be mostly sunny as highs head for near 80. Rising humidity Sunday afternoon as winds pick up from the south, with some gusts of 20 to 30 mph possible. Increasing clouds may arrive at some point Sunday afternoon, with a shower or storm possible by late afternoon or evening.

Water temperatures: They are currently in the low 70s. See a live map of regional water temperatures on our Weather Now page.

Thunderstorms with strong winds are organizing in northern West Virginia and central Pennsylvania and headed east into the warm, soupy air over Northern Virginia, DC and Maryland. As such, the National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch until 10 p.m.

We are uncertain if the storms will remain organized and strong as they approach the DC area, or if they will weaken and become more scattered.

The storms "should continue to pose a threat for mainly scattered damaging winds through the afternoon and evening as they spread generally eastward," the Weather Service writes. "Peak gusts may reach up to 60-65 mph."

Based on their current rate of the motion, the storm should move through the DC area between about 7 and 10 p.m. from west to east. They may be more numerous north of the Beltway than to the south.

The watch extends from just south of DC to as far north as Syracuse, New York.

Because of the extremely humid air in place, the storms will have a lot of fuel to draw from and could unleash damaging wind gusts in addition to heavy rain and lightning.

Remember that a severe thunderstorm watch means conditions are conducive to severe storms but not a guarantee. Stay alert. Then, if a severe thunderstorm warning is issued for your location, it means an intense storm is imminent and you should seek shelter. When thunder roars, go indoors.

It's hot and oppressively humid – and this steamy air could fuel big storms late this afternoon and evening.

The most probable window for storms is between 6 and 11 p.m., although an isolated strong cell could pop up during the afternoon. Storms may be hit or miss rather than widespread.

The National Weather Service has placed the area in a Level 2 out of 5 risk for severe storms, with the primary hazard being damaging wind gusts.

The agency says there is a 30 to 44 percent chance of storm gusts reaching at least 58 mph within 25 miles of any location along the Interstate 95 corridor from Fredericksburg through Philadelphia, including DC and Baltimore.

Jeff Halverson, Capital Weather's severe weather expert, says the atmosphere is ripe for storms that could produce microbursts – or intense localized downdrafts that can topple trees, as well as torrential rain and a few instances of small hail. Frequent lightning is another potential hazard.

Strong to severe storms are also a threat on Friday and may be more widespread than today.

The National Weather Service announced El Niño conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific Ocean and that the climate pattern may reach historically strong levels by the winter.

"There is a 63% chance of a very strong El Niño during November-January that would rank among the largest El Niño events in the historical record going back to 1950," the Weather Service wrote in an advisory Thursday.

El Niños, defined by the warming of ocean waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, have ripple effects on weather patterns all over the world.

In the Mid-Atlantic, they tend to increase winter precipitation and, often, snowfall. However, particularly strong El Niños can pump so much mild air into the region that more rain falls than snow. The two strongest El Niños since 1950, in 1972-73 and 1997-98, produced historically low snow amounts in the DC area.

Our new site opened in preview mode on May 31. Then, on June 9, we officially launched Capital Weather as an independent weather news organization serving the DC area after more than 18 years at The Washington Post.

We're grateful for the interest in our new venture. Several publications have written about our transition and what's ahead for Capital Weather. Here's a round-up:

In-depth write-ups

• Washington Post: The Capital Weather Gang is entering a new season
• Alisa's Daily Dose: Why the Capital Weather Gang left the Washington Post

Short articles

• WTOP: After 18-year run, DC’s Capital Weather Gang spins off from the Post
• MoCoShow: Capital Weather Gang Leaving The Washington Post, Returning To Independent Roots
• Prince of Petworth: Big News on the Weather Front!! Capital Weather Gang Departs from The Washington Post After 18 Years, Now, Again, Independently Publishing as Capital Weather
• Washington Post: A new chapter for the Capital Weather Gang
• The Cool Down: Washington Post weather team breaks away after 18 years and relaunches on its own

Mentions

• CityCast
• CNN
• Politico
• Semafor
• Washingtonian

Forums

• Reddit: Capital Weather Gang apparently going independent
• Reddit: Capital Weather officially goes independent from the Washington Post
• Reddit: After 18-year run, Capital Weather Gang Leaving The Washington Post and going independent

Podcasts

• Dream City Podcast (segment at 30:50)

We're so excited you have found us during our preview week. As we work out the kinks this week, we would love your feedback on anything and everything at our new homes – capitalweather.com and on our new Capital Weather app for iOS and Android.

What do you like? What do you not like? What's working well, what isn't working? What are we missing?

We'll keep this post active, to collect this feedback, throughout the coming week.