PM Update: Isolated storm this evening, then it’s sunny and hot Thursday

National Guard flyover of National's Park, with a bit of iridescence in the sky, as well. (Ron Cohn/Flickr)

* Code orange alert Thursday, for bad air quality risk among sensitive groups *

Highs were mainly in the mid- and upper 80s this afternoon. That’s not too far from normal as we move into the hottest time of year on average. While we could see some evening raindrops in parts of the area, the forecast is a dry and toasty one for Thursday.

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Through Tonight: Isolated showers or storms are possible this evening. They’ll be ending by early overnight, leaving us mainly clear late. Lows are in the 60s most spots, but perhaps 70 in the city. Winds are light out of the south-southwest.

View the current weather at The Washington Post.

Tomorrow (Thursday): It’s a day with lots of sun, and few clouds. Highs are in the upper 80s to around 90. Winds are from the south around five to 10 mph. Humidity is on the moderate side. Enough to be felt but not too much a bother. Keep in mind that air quality won’t be great, so limit time outdoors where possible.

See Dan Stillman’s forecast through the weekend. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For related traffic news, check out Gridlock.

Pollen update: Grass pollen is moderate/high. Weed pollen is moderate. Mold spores are low/moderate.

Code orange: With the heat Thursday comes worse air quality. A code orange has been issued for the bad air.

🚨 Tomorrow we have a Code Orange Alert for Washington DC metro and suburbs & the Baltimore Metro area putting sensitive groups at risk. Temperatures will be high. You can help improve local #airquality by limiting driving and filling up your gas in the evening. pic.twitter.com/3RlFxtZtTq

— Clean Air Partners (@CleanAirPartner) June 29, 2022

It’ll be the third code orange day of the year for D.C. While that’s many fewer than in the distant past, it’s more than some recent years with plenty of summer to go.

It's kind of remarkable given all of the storms in the area today, but DC managed its second Code Orange ozone pollution observation of the year. Did not expect this at all today, even with high ozone observed just above the surface this morning pic.twitter.com/15ALqKIUTB

— Ryan Stauffer (@ryans_wx) June 23, 2022

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