Results tagged “rain”

For so many reasons, it's easy to associate with this photograph: one man, wandering out into the world with little but his trusty umbrella to shield him from the slings and arrows that surely await. Credit His Noodly Appendage with the excellent framing.

It's likely to rain tonight, and probably every evening this weekend. The National Weather Service has gone ahead and issued a Flash Flood Watch for the greater metro area from 2 p.m. to midnight tonight, thanks to already-wet soil poised to meet heavy, sudden rainfall again this evening. The Capital Weather Gang explains that this low pressure system actually has nothing to with Danny, though.

Hurricane Bill may have kicked off the 2009 storm season down south, but it looks like Tropical Storm Danny will be the first storm to pay us a little visit this year. The graphic above from the National Weather Service shows Danny making its way up the Atlantic coastline, bringing some wet weather to D.C. in just about two to three short days. If we're reading this correctly, there's only a 10-20% chance of Danny picking up enough speed to turn into a hurricane, according to this map, and D.C. will most likely feel only the outer edges of the storm, so we're not exactly looking at another Isabel. The Capital Weather Gang describes the storm predictions as pretty uncertain at this point, but notes that however strong it gets, the worst of it will likely stay offshore.

As I write this from the (thankfully under cover) RFK Stadium press box, a veritable soaking is coming down over the field -- and it's been like this for some time, as anyone with access to a window or who has been outside can attest to. The District is currently under a flash flood watch (as we noted this morning), and there is also a severe thunderstorm watch for a sizable area south and east of Washington. If you're getting off to a late start to tonight's sporting action or driving for any reason what so ever, be sure to take things very slowly.

Brewers 7, Nationals 3: The Nats couldn't really get the offense going, and dropped their fourth straight decision. Adam Dunn did smash his 32nd home run of the season, and Ryan Zimmerman added a solo blast in the ninth. But it wasn't enough to overcome some very poor hitting by the bottom of the order -- five hits in total just isn't going to cut it. It's a concerning trend for the Nationals, especially as they can I'll afford to waste solid pitching performances like the one J.D. Martin delivered. Martin (2-3), though far from fantastic, was generally under control: four runs in 6.2 innings, which could have been even better if the Nats had a couple of close calls go their way. Normally, this kind of pitching performance would put Washington in a good position to win. However, Braden Looper (11-6) was dynamic aside from the Dunn homer, and Jorge Sosa looked plain awful in a seemingly interminable top of the ninth, allowing three runs. The weather certainly didn't help matters much -- rain fell over the game for most of the evening. (But it was nice and sunny for the introduction of one young Mr. Strasburg. Coincidence? We think not.)

Just in case you don't have a window, the National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch that began at 1:20 p.m. and will last until 9 p.m. Along with the rain, we could see large hail, strong winds and lightning. Plus, added bonus: a slight chance of a tornado! Despite the 9 p.m. ceiling, the Capital Weather Gang thinks the shower and storm threat could be over by early evening. UPDATE 2:18 p.m. Northeast D.C. just got upgraded to Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 2:45 p.m., with 60 mph wind gusts possible.

The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 5 p.m. this evening. Some of the intense storm activity that could pop up midday today includes hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter, wind gusts up to 70 mph, and lightning. Capital Weather Gang finds the silver lining: "... the cold front causing the storm threat should clear out all this muggy air. We'll feel much more comfortable for the weekend, before shower chances return early next week." Works for us.

Sunday's heavenly sunshine and cool breezes may have helped push last week's endless thunderstorms into the backs of our minds, but WTOP's Kristi King reminds us that this spring's increased rainfall will have lasting effects in form of incessant mosquitoes. King quotes Mosquito Control Program Manager for the Maryland Department of Agriculture Mike Cantwell as noting that the D.C. metro area is in store for increased mosquito activity this season in the evenings, nights and early mornings, and even more fun, later in the summer we should get even more of those annoying daytime tiger mosquitoes. Highly unscientific anecdotal evidence gathered at DCist HQ shows that the number of mosquito bites received by staffers thus far in the month of June far exceeds the same period last year. How pesky are you finding the city's skeeters this year?

Oh yeah, there's another severe thunderstorm watch from the National Weather Service in effect, this time until 8 p.m. There's also another flash flood watch that will last until the wee hours of the morning on Friday. But you knew that already. Because these storms won't ever. effing. stop.

Looks like we've got round two of this morning's crazy storms heading our way. The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch until 9 p.m., along with a flash flood watch until 11 p.m. for the D.C. metro area. The current estimate is that this storm activity will get going in full force by about 5 p.m., so hold on to your hats on those evening commutes, and seriously, don't attempt to drive through flooded roadways. Also watch out for potentially pretty sizable hail.

The barely six-month old Capitol Visitor Center experienced a drainage system failure last night thanks to several days of strong storms, leading to a flooded hallway, the Post reports. The incident is described as not having caused significant damage, but it's not exactly a great sign that storm drain equipment is already failing in the massive (and massively overbudget) $621 million underground facility. The center is open as normal today, as the flooding occurred in an area of the structure that is not part of the visitor tour.

Here at DCist Storm Command Central, we're about 15 minutes away from declaring this last week an official Deluge '09 Event (loyal readers may recall the previous incarnation of this designation, Deluge '06). The latest press release from the District Department of Transportation is really pushing this decision over the top. Could Davy DCist be on his way down to DCist HQ? Check back in later to find out.

Flickr user Beck Exposed, a.k.a. Capitol Hill resident Sarah Becker, sent us this photo of the hail that pummeled her front stoop for about five minutes around 11:30 a.m. Anybody else spot some hail? These thunderstorms the last couple of days have been pretty impressive, if not a little bit freaky. How can we have hail when it's 50 degrees out?

With no relief in sight from today's downpour, the Nationals have gone ahead and postponed their second home game of the season tonight against the Philadelphia Phillies. The make-up date has yet to be announced, so there won't be a double header tomorrow. Ticket holders for tonight's game should keep their tickets, which may be used either for the TBA rescheduled game, or in exchange for tickets for the same priced seat at any future 2009 Nationals home game, excluding the June series against the Boston Red Sox. Thursday night's game is still on, set for 7:05 p.m.

The National Weather Service has now issued both a Winter Weather Advisory and a Winter Storm Watch for the D.C. Metro area. The Winter Weather Advisory is effective from 4 a.m. Tuesday morning to 6 p.m. that evening, during which time 2-3" of snow is currently predicted. The Winter Storm Watch goes into effect after 6 p.m. on Tuesday through to Wed. afternoon. That system will bring everyone's favorite wintry mix to the region, which will be some combination of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain, but that will all depend on temperatures at the time.

While checking in on the status of tonight's winter storm watch — which is looking like cold rain with a good chance of sleet from 6 p.m. on — one of the first thoughts I had was, "Good, hopefully the bad weather will mean fewer street murders tonight." Ugh.

We're by no means ready to trot out our favorite cold weather word, but at 3:15 p.m., the Capital Weather Gang was still predicting a possibility for a light dusting of snow this evening. The key passage is here: "no significant accumulation expected in the metro area." You hear that, drivers? Keep your wits about you if the drops of water expected to start falling from the sky soon start turning into white fluffy flakes later on. Just take a few deep breaths and proceed with your evening commute without turning into a complete moron. Everything's gonna be all right.

We don't want to minimize the seriousness of the threat Tropical Storm/Maybe Category 1 Hurricane Hanna potentially poses to the D.C. Metro area. As of mid-day on Friday, our favorite weather guys are saying 2-4 inches of rain and winds that could reach sustained speeds of 30 mph and occasional gusts to 50 mph. Should the storm intensify, we could easily see 3-7 inches of rain. That's a real storm, folks. It could even be a little freaky: minor flooding, power outages, frogs, etc. But it's also only going to last for about one day, it's not going to be as bad as Isabel, and there's really no need to stockpile supplies more than what you probably normally keep on hand: a flashlight and enough food and toilet paper to last a day or two, in the event Pepco isn't able to get the power back on right away (and that's assuming your power even goes out at all).

AlertDC is warning D.C. metro area residents that Tropical Storm Hanna, which could become a full-fledged hurricane before it hits the U.S. shore, may dump some severe weather on the Mid-Atlantic region as early as late Friday night/Saturday morning. Right now the National Weather Service is more simply predicting a 70 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms starting Friday night and through Saturday.

   

Check out these photos taken at 5:30 p.m. at the East Falls Church Metro station, where downed power lines have shut down Orange line travel in both directions. Metro has finally issued a full press release on what's happening down there. Based on these images, if you're heading out on the Orange line, our best advice would be to stay in the city tonight until much, much later, if not crash on a friend's couch.

Deluge '08?

Haven't had enough of the severe weather we've been experiencing over the last several days? The National Weather Service says more of it is already upon us. A severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch have both been issued until 8 p.m. A line of storms are now approaching western Frederick, Loudoun and Fauquier counties, and will move through the metro area over the next few hours.

It's not time to bring out Davy DCist in a boat, but the National Weather Service has issued a coastal flood advisory for D.C., Prince George's, southern Maryland, Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlington, and few other Virginia counties. The advisory, which is in effect until 11 a.m. Tuesday, says tides will be one to two feet higher due to the phase of the moon and onshore winds, which may cause minor coastal flooding around high tide, especially in low-lying areas like Alexandria and Annapolis. The advisory lists all the jurisdictions and high tide times.

Anyone else notice the DCist weather bug just clicked over to 70 degrees? Why it feels just like spring out there, everybody. If you can think up an excuse to pop outside, we recommend it highly. Soak it up, too, because the forecast isn't completely awesome for the rest of the week.

A heavy rain and high wind advisory has been issued from 1 p.m. today until 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon for the metro region. No snow is expected in D.C., but we'll have plenty of rain and the potential for more flooding. Temperatures are expected to remain in the mid 40s tonight and up to 53 degrees tomorrow during the day, and then dip to a low of 27 degrees late Saturday night into Sunday morning. The rain is expected to end between 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, so looks like the Idiotarod could end up being a bit of a soggy affair.

It's by no means pleasant outside today, but yesterday's fears of a thick coating of ice in the District haven't come to pass. Still, Davy DCist sent us this totally obnoxious postcard just to rub today's winter storm in our faces. The nerve of that guy.

If you didn't have enough fun with slipping and falling on the ice last week, the National Weather Service has exciting news for you: another winter storm warning has been issued from 10 p.m. tonight through 10 p.m. Friday. Normally we don't like to leave all-caps in blockquotes, but given the apparent need for D.C.-style winter weather panic, capital letters seem somehow appropriate.

When yesterday's ice storm was just getting underway, I posted a rather pathetic admission that I had fallen down on the ice outside of DCist HQ. Since then, many of you have added your icy sidewalk tales of woe to the comments, some with far worse results than mine. But if this FOX News report is any indication, my slip and fall truly pales in comparison to that of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who actually broke his shoulder after falling on the ice last night. Gates will have to sit out a House Appropriations Committee hearing today while he receives medical treatment for the break. Get well soon, Secretary Gates. Your pratfall is in good company.

So, yeah. I totally just bit it on the brick sidewalk in front of DCist HQ, which had been coated with an invisible layer of slick ice since I left a few hours ago. I was even wearing all-weather boots! Sadly, my fall was more of the forward onto one knee and then over to one side variety, rather than the more classic comedy-style feet flying up and landing squarely on your bottom. Sigh. What would Dick Van Dyke say?