Last night, you may have noticed the peculiar ring around the moon. According to Georgia State, that was a “moon halo” caused by refraction off stratospheric ice crystals. The Farmer’s Almanac would like to chip in that a moon halo indicates impending bad weather, and that has a 90% chance of being true tonight.

Photo Kirill Makarenko

This evening saw hurricane-like thunderstorms. In Burleith, the heavy rains and wind felled quite a few large trees, crushing some unfortunately parked cars. At one accident site (near the intersection of 37th and T Streets), the owner of a green SUV was in his car when a tree fell on it, but he was not injured.

Photos by Molly Redden

Update (10:50 p.m.) The following message was just posted on the Burleith listserv:

There are a number of trees down in Burleith.  ANC Commission, Ed Solomon has called them in  and hopefully we will have DC services here this weekend. Fortunately no one was hurt as the trees fell on a few cars.

The downed trees are located as follows:

• T St btwn 37th and 38th
• T St btwn 37th and 36th
• R St btwn 37th and 36th
• S St btwn 38th and 39th

We’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not!

With Washington’s weather being rather schizophrenic as of late, we’re starting to worry if all the grand commencement ceremonies are going to be shipped indoors.

What’s the forecast looking like? Well, not so hot.

Almost all the events on Thursday and Friday are indoors, so dire forecasts won’t have too much of an effect on them. But Saturday’s the big outdoorsy day, with eight events scheduled outside from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Here’s what the National Weather Service predicts for Saturday:

Saturday…Showers and thunderstorms likely. Highs in the lower 80s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph with gusts up to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Saturday Night…Showers and thunderstorms likely. Lows in the lower 60s. West winds 5 to 10 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Yikes! Looks like the SFS, MSB and College Commencement ceremonies are going to be in reverb-tastic McDonough after all. NHS kids luck out, though, with Gaston Hall as their rain site. The biggest downgrade? That would have to be the MSB Dean’s Reception, which is scheduled for the picturesque Dahlgren Quad but, if it rains, will be moved to Leo’s Lower Level.

Forecast graphics from Capital Weather Gang.

It was cold today. Really cold. I’m not just saying that—it’s a fact. Well, it was published in the Washington Post, anyway. The floppy-haired weatherman on Channel 5 even said records might be set tonight. The historic low was in 1895, at one degree above freezing.

So, if you’re considering skipping class because that walk to the ICC sounds like too much punishment, don’t worry. It’s going to warm up tomorrow, to a high of, um … 28. The mercury may not drop to zero, but trust me, no one should make fun of you for wearing long johns.

Posted by Austin Richardson, Blog Editor