7:00 AM | **1st 90 degree day of the season on Wednesday; more downpours and powerful storms through tonight; Arthur now a hurricane**

[Latest visible satellite image of Hurricane Arthur]

6-Day Forecast

Today

Mostly cloudy, quite warm, very humid, showers and thunderstorms likely; primarily, during the afternoon hours, some of the rain can be heavy at times, highs in the upper 80’s

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, mild, muggy, showers and thunderstorms likely, some of the rain can be heavy at times, lows not far from 70 degrees

Friday

Clouds and showers early then becoming partly sunny late, breezy and cooler, low 80’s

Friday Night

Partly cloudy, pleasant, low 60’s

Saturday

Mostly sunny, pleasant, low 80’s

Sunday

Mostly sunny, nice, mid 80’s

Monday

Mostly sunny, warm, mid-to-upper 80’s

Tuesday

Mostly sunny, quite warm, more humid, slight chance for showers and thunderstorms, near 90

Discussion

Severe thunderstorms raked much of the Mid-Atlantic region last night with thousands losing power and the atmosphere will remain very unstable through tonight. A frontal system along the east coast will combine with tropical moisture from Arthur to produce heavy downpours in the I-95 corridor right through tonight and some of the thunderstorms that form will be severe with damaging wind gusts and flooding rainfall. Arthur has intensified overnight into a category 1 hurricane and it will slam into the Outer Banks of North Carolina by early Friday - possibly as a category 2 hurricane with nearly 100 mph wind gusts. At this point in time, Arthur will accelerate to the northeast and slide a couple hundred miles east of the Mid-Atlantic coastline later in the day on Friday. Drier air will return to the I-95 corridor by later Friday - most likely in time to allow for fireworks shows to go on as scheduled tomorrow night although there will be a breeze. A refreshing air mass will follow in the Mid-Atlantic region this weekend following the departure of Arthur; Saturday and Sunday should turn out to be great weather days.

One final note: yesterday was the first day it has officially reached 90 degrees this season at Central Park which is the latest first 90 degree day in 29 years.

Video

httpv://youtu.be/IDiZSS30JKU