Through tonight: Skies should stay fully clear after any last evening cloud or two decides to move out. A light north breeze may continue to bring in cooler, drier air — only occasionally gusting near 10 mph. Low temperatures will dip a bit, into the low to mid-60s. Dew points should drop closer toward the 50-degree mark by dawn, getting very comfortable for this time of year.
View the current weather at The Washington Post.
Tomorrow (Independence Day): It doesn’t get much better for July Fourth! Sun will dominate, though a few clouds may bubble up in the mid- to late afternoon hours. Wear that sunscreen if camping out for fireworks or other outdoor activities! Mindful hydration will also be important, with a drier air mass (dew points in the mid-50s) and high temperatures in the upper 80s to around 90 degrees.
Wind direction will be somewhat variable but may turn from the northeast toward the south-southeast late in the day, all the while staying fairly light. Air quality may be Code Orange, so those with respiratory sensitivities may want to take it easy and avoid being outside for long.
Programming note: Our weekly Sunset Live Q&A will be a holiday edition, before the fireworks tomorrow evening, at 8:36 p.m. See Molly Robey’s forecast into midweek. Follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter if you haven’t already. Be sure to check out our Instagram, too.
Where do we stand in the rain department with hit-or-miss storms in the region?
After last night’s flooding in the District and northern suburbs, dry spots remain. During the warm season, hit-or-miss thunderstorms are our primary source of rain, rather than a shield of steady rain like we see from larger storm systems and nor’easters during the cooler season. So some of your farms and gardens may still be craving some rain, despite the showers and storms this past weekend.
Some of you have vociferously asked for rain here in the comments section and on our social media channels (see links above if you haven’t followed us on them!), but many of us are in good shape. The green areas seen in the image above have a surplus, while the yellow/orange areas have a deficit of rain. East-to-west areas along the latitude of the District are doing pretty well, but north and south of town have some deficits.
Sometimes all it takes is going one county away and it’s a much different story. Last night, for instance, Silver Spring and Rockville in Montgomery County recorded up to 7 inches of rain in just a few hours as streams overflowed, flooding roads and homes. Broadly in the region, we are doing very well compared with portions of the country west of the Mississippi River. We are having only short-term hydrological issues in our area, if any issues (perhaps just in your topsoil).
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