D.C.-area forecast: Strong storms late today bring heat relief by Friday

Today (Thursday): Sunshine should greet us this morning as temperatures lift toward midday highs near 90. Humidity remains moderately high with dew points into the mid-60s.

Clouds then increase with showers and thunderstorms developing in our western areas by midafternoon before progressing toward the Beltway in the late afternoon. Some storms could bring strong, damaging winds and/or small to medium-size hail. Keep an eye out for any watches or warnings. Winds are from the southwest at 5 to 10 mph for most of the day, except gustier around storms. Confidence: Medium

Tonight: Thunderstorms could linger into the early evening hours, especially along and east of Interstate 95, with total rainfall from 0.25 to 0.50 inches, although amounts in excess of one inch are possible in the heaviest storms. Skies become partly cloudy overnight. Winds shift to come from the northwest at 10 to 15 mph with higher gusts at times as lows drop to near 60. Confidence: Medium

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Tomorrow (Friday): Partly to mostly sunny skies, much lower humidity and temperatures only reaching around 80 make this a mostly pleasant day. The only drawback is a breezy wind from the northwest at 10 to 20 mph with higher gusts possible at times. Confidence: Medium-High

Tomorrow night: Mostly clear skies, calming breezes and very low humidity bring a pleasant start to the first weekend of June as lows reach the mid-50s in the outer suburbs to low 60s in the city. Confidence: Medium-High

Both Saturday and Sunday are magnificent days. Sunny skies on Saturday and partly to mostly sunny skies Sunday feature highs near 80 with very comfortable humidity levels (dew points in the 40s and 50s). Saturday night is mostly clear and cool with lows in the 50s to around 60, while Sunday night is a few degrees warmer under partly cloudy skies. Confidence: Medium-High

Monday features slightly warmer weather with highs in the low to mid-80s as partly to mostly sunny skies prevail. There’s only a small increase in humidity (still mostly comfortable). Confidence: Medium