Friday in the D.C. area may have created concern, possibly among skeptics puzzled by the protracted persistence of fine weather here.
Washington, D.C
Against April’s showery image, Friday was another dry day
They blended the scenic, the thermal and the physiological.
Much bright springtime blue appeared aloft. Clouds appeared throughout the day, but seemed unable to deny the Washington area an ample measure of warm sunshine.
The afternoon high temperature reached 66 degrees. That is six below the average high in Washington for the date. But it fell just shy of that thermal zone considered to be the most comfortable.
Any blemishes seemed few and minor. Even with a high wind of 17 mph and a peak gust of 22, there seemed little about Friday afternoon to evoke dismay or displeasure.
In many of the measurements that characterize weather, Friday might have seemed a middling sort of day, devoid of unusual distinctions.
But it also seemed the sort of day that would be welcome at almost any time. Recognition of its quiet merits may have been hampered by following so many fine previous days.
Friday’s 66 degree high was warmer than the 62 of Thursday. And if Friday did not stand out among its glittering April predecessors, it did seem worthy of standing among them.
Of the five days that came before, Friday was cooler than two, and warmer than three.
In the warm weather season, Washington humidity can be a torment but Friday’s hallmark seemed to be the crisp and invigorating dryness of the air.
A figure known as the dew point gives a measure of humidity. It indicates how low the temperature would need to sink to squeeze any water vapor out of the air.
On Friday, that condensation threshold seemed unattainable. At 1 p.m., with Washington in the low 60s, the dew point indicated that the air was so unusually dry, it would have to be freezing here before any water could be wrung from it.
So, at least through late afternoon, in a month known for showers, Washington went through another day without rain, and without the promise or threat of it.
In the past two weeks, the dry air that has discouraged perspiration and prompted psychic and physical vitality, has been unproductive in its moisture output.
Since April 12, Washington’s almost-desiccated atmosphere has yielded only .14 inches of rain.
With its vast expanses of often-blue skies, Friday was one more day in that long dry stretch.