This is a data file meant to be read by an RSS reader. See http://www.wjla.com/rss/index.html for more information. Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:31:00 EST News en-us Copyright 2008, Allbritton Communications Company http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/where_are_we_in_rainfall_totals_now_.html Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:31:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1141/where_are_we_in_rainfall_totals_now_.html http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/smoke_in_dc_all_the_way_from_nc_.html Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:21:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1130/smoke_in_dc_all_the_way_from_nc_.html Here is the satellite picture from 5pm this afternoon. There are many features that stand out on this map including numerous thunderstorms over Pennsylvania stretching along the Appalachains all the way into North Carolina. Also, the next line of thunderstorms back through Ohio and Kentucky associated with the cold front which will affect us tomorrow afternoon and evening. You can see the clockwise flow around the area of high pressure if you take the path from eastern South Carolina and follow the cloud lines northward all the way into West Virginia. Even the little things, such as the sea breeze as you can see the cloud line not only in the middle of the Delmarva, but a little better to the south along the coastlines of North Carolina and South Carolina. There is even a thunderstorm which initiated along the sea breeze front down in South Carolina. What I see is something that stands out, as it usually isn't seen very often around these parts, and is more often seen in California. I'm talking about the huge plume of smoke in eastern North Carolina which spreads eastward and then northward all the way into the DC area. This has been the main reason for such a haze about the region during the day on Friday. We also recieved multiple reports of smoke from our viewers, and surface observations were reporting smoke all day from Richmond to Roanoke and southward. These large fires in eastern NC have been going for a few days, but when the winds finally shifted to southerly, it allowed for it to make a move to the north and come overhead. So what can we expect for tomorrow and the rest of the weekend? I think we will get out of this haze finally tomorrow night as the cold front shown to our west pushes through. Showers and thunderstorms can be expected, a few of which may become strong to severe, with damaging winds as the primary threat.]]> http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/refreshing_really_.html Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:54:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1117/refreshing_really_.html http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/severe_weather_and_a_cool_down.html Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:36:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1114/severe_weather_and_a_cool_down.html http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/major_heat_on_the_way.html Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:36:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1096/major_heat_on_the_way.html http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/chesapeake_beach_severe_storm.html Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:38:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1087/chesapeake_beach_severe_storm.html Minor roof damage, shingles missing, siding ripped off houses, numerous trees down, and sticks scattered everywhere. This sums up what I witnessed this morning after surveying the damage. I traveled through the Bayview Hills and Richfield Station subdivisions where a path of damage was evident. There isn't much twisting of the downed trees or debris, but it still looks to me as though a small tornado did in fact pass through this area of northern Calvert County. Luckily, the homeowners I spoke with were all unharmed and helping each other clean up debris. While surveying the debris, there were a few moments were I wasn't quite convinced a tornado had touched down, and I started to think it may have been straight line winds. Particularly in the very large field behind Trader's Restaurant where the tall grass was mostly blown in the same direction. However, I also noticed a distinct gap in a tree line where it looked as though a tornado passed through. Also, there was minor damage to homes along the supposed path just beyond the gap in the tree line. Judging by this and other damage, I would estimate the that a low end EF1 tornado touched down with winds around 90 mph, which would just barely put it in the EF1 category. This is my preliminary estimate, but we will have an official report from the National Weather Service either later today or early tomorrow.]]> http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/severe_weather_on_the_way.html Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:53:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1082/severe_weather_on_the_way.html Damaging wind gusts are the primary threat as seen above which was posted by the SPC. It appears we have a squall line organizing along the front of an old MCS (Mesoscale Convective System, organized area of thunderstorms which can persist for hours) and then MCV (Mesoscale Convective Vortex, low pressure center within an MCS with its own circulation). This is moving east relatively quickly, and should be the primary focus for damaging wind gusts and possible tornadoes. If you happen to see any severe weather or damage, please send in some pictures and we will show them on the news tonight! Send your pictures to iwitness@wjla.com.]]> http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/an_interesting_weekend_caught_some_good_pictures_.html Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:13:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1077/an_interesting_weekend_caught_some_good_pictures_.html This is a shot I took from Rosslyn on Saturday right around 2:00pm before the severe thunderstorm came through the District. It was a nice shelf cloud that came in right before very heavy rains (over an inch in 25 minutes) and very gusty winds (but not the severe winds I was expecting. It also came through with a ton of lightning. About 4 minutes after this I went inside for the remainder of the storm. This picture was sent in from a viewer in Dunkirk by the name of Dawn Hadden. She thought that it may have been a microburst as she said it was a 30 second prolonged wind gust. That may have been the case, but I would have to see other areas around her house as well to see if there was a spreading pattern amongst the fallen trees. A shot from the air would be nice as well, maybe I'll tell the guys downstairs at the assignment desk to get News Chopper 7 there pronto! I assume this would be more from straight-line wind damage as the setup was much better for straight-lined winds than microbursts. There was a 78 knot (90 mph) wind gust reported at Chesapeake Beach right after this so I would imagine that would be from the same storm. Finally, this was typical of the hail that fell around here. This was sent in by Angela Ruckman from King George, VA. The largest hail I saw reported was an inch and a quarter. Other than that, it was mainly pea sized. Keep sending in pictures, weather it be severe weather pictures or nice weather pictures, cool looking clouds, nice sunsets, whatever!]]> http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/severe_chances_tomorrow.html Fri, 30 May 2008 17:24:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1072/severe_chances_tomorrow.html iwitness@wjla.com, and we will post it online and maybe even on the news. Be sure you write your name and where you took your pictures. Things clear out Sunday, so enjoy your weekend!]]> http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/noticeable_changes._for_the_better_.html Wed, 28 May 2008 10:22:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1061/noticeable_changes._for_the_better_.html http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/great_weekend_so_far_what_s_next_.html Sun, 25 May 2008 22:19:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1050/great_weekend_so_far_what_s_next_.html http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/memorial_day_weekend.html Wed, 21 May 2008 18:11:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1038/memorial_day_weekend.html http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/another_chance_for_rain_but_dry_trend_ahead.html Mon, 19 May 2008 14:54:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1033/another_chance_for_rain_but_dry_trend_ahead.html http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/welcome_rains_.html Fri, 16 May 2008 16:27:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1027/welcome_rains_.html Another weather system has again worked its way across our region delivering more rainfall to our area: almost an inch was recorded at Reagan National Airport over the past 24 hours. We certainly had issues earlier in the week with too much rain over too short a period of time, and this, as many of us know, had dire consequences in the form of flooded roadways, streams, creeks, rivers, and of course basements, but the question that remains is what benefit has all of this rain brought? This week's rain has worked to increase the amount of available water in area reservoirs, in the soil, and partially, in underground aquifers, all of which has worked to erase drought concerns at least for the short term. Sunday and Monday's rain, while much of it ran-off and exited watersheds quickly, did work to provide a water supply cushion for the area as we head into the summer months. Assuming we see "normal" summertime weather conditions over the course of the next four to five months, the rainfall that accumulated can be held and used as "insurance" if we do happen to lapse into a drier weather pattern. Last year's rainfall deficit quickly aggravated area agricultural interests, newly planted crops withered under a constant ridge of high pressure that shielded our region from storms systems and rain, we can only hope that these next couple of months provided a decent balance between dry and wet weather and that we can avoid weather pattern extremes. ]]> http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/storm_chaser_makes_its_way_to_andrews_this_weekend.html Wed, 14 May 2008 17:27:00 EST http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/1006/storm_chaser_makes_its_way_to_andrews_this_weekend.html www.jsoh.org and saw that not only are the Blue Angels going to be at the show, but so will the Army's Golden Knights as well as a demonstration of the Air Force's newest fighter jet the F-22. It should be a good time and the best part is the admission is FREE, so why not come along with your kids or friends. We will be giving out posters and t-shirts and explaining how our Storm Chaser works, as it has its own weather station on the top and a displayed output from all of the sensors as well as Doppler radar in the back. Shuttles to the event will run from FedEx Field as well as the Branch Ave. Metro station. We hope to see you out there!]]>