3 days ago
On D-day anniversary, the roar was distant thunder
It was the 81st anniversary of D-Day on Friday, and in Washington and its surroundings all seemed atmospherically serene, with any sounds of thunder coming from distant and isolated storms, and any possible sight or sniff of smoke resulting from far-off wildfires.
Overall it seemed a calm and low-key day, a day of somewhat blurry identity, one that suggested either late spring or early summer. Classifying it more precisely probably depended as much as anything on personal feelings about what makes the seasons, and how and when one gives way to the next.
By early evening, Washington had spent hours watching the skies grow dark as what appeared to be a fair facsimile of storm clouds assembled. But as of 8 p.m. no rain had fallen in the city itself.
The main accomplishment of the gathering of clouds seemed to be to shield the city from the direct rays of the sun, which are at this time of year at the peak of their power. It was neither a sunny day nor a day without sunshine.
Dulles International Airport reported a thunderstorm, and .05 of an inch of rain fell there, between 3 and 5 p.m.
Within sight of the airport loomed those towers of cloud known as cumulonimbus, the sort that spread not out but upward, the sky's own skyscrapers, Often they portend thunder and lightning. It didn't seem possible to be certain that a shower was not in store elsewhere in the area.
In Washington the high temperature reached 86 degrees, four degrees above the average high for June 6 in the city. It was the warmest of the six days of June thus far, but probably not warm enough to complain about on Friday or any other day. And most of the time the mercury stayed below that,
The wind caused little stir. Most of the time it seemed well below 10 mph.
Signs of summer could probably be found in the dew points. They spent most of the day in the mid-and upper 60s in Washington, and may have started to suggest some of the necessary humid ingredients of a typical summer day here.
And based on published maps, high above the city the faraway fires in Canada, apparently spread a thin canopy of smoke.
