The Washington Post - USA (2021-12-25)

B6 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25 , 2021

AVERAGE RECORD ACTUAL FORECAST

PREVIOUS YEAR NORMAL LATEST

<–10–0s 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s100s110+

T-storms Rain ShowersSnow Flurries Ice Cold Front Warm FrontStationary Front

NATIONAL Today Tomorrow

High Low Normal Record high Record low

Reagan Dulles BWI

Today’s tides (High tides in Bold)

WORLD Today Tomorrow

Sources: AccuWeather.com; US Army Centralized Allergen Extract Lab (pollen data); airnow.gov (air quality data); National Weather Service * AccuWeather's RealFeel Temperature® combines over a dozen factors for an accurate measure of how the conditions really “feel.”

Key: s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, r-rain, shsn- showers, -snow, i-icet-thunderstorms, sf-snow flurries,

Moon Phases Solar system

NATION

OFFICIAL RECORD

Rise Set

REGION

Past 24 hours Total this month Normal Total this year Normal

Richmond

Norfolk

Ocean City

Annapolis

Dover

Cape May

Baltimore

Charlottesville

Lexington

Washington

Virginia Beach

Kitty Hawk

Harrisburg Philadelphia

Hagerstown

Davis

OCEAN:

Temperatures

Precipitation

for the 48 contiguous states excludes Antarctica

Yesterday's National

Snow, past 24 hours Snow, season total

54° 4:00 p.m. 39° 8:06 a.m. 47°/33° 71° 2015 5° 1983

54° 2:00 p.m. 35° 8:33 a.m. 45°/28° 71° 2015 1° 1983

55° 1:18 p.m. 37° 8:44 a.m. 45°/28° 71° 2015 4° 1983

Washington 6:40 a.m. 12:03 p.m. 6:50 p.m. none
Annapolis 3:39 a.m. 9:08 a.m. 3:15 p.m. 9:41 p.m.
Ocean City 5:16 a.m. 11:34 a.m. 6:05 p.m. none
Norfolk 1:12 a.m. 7:08 a.m. 1:21 p.m. 7:49 p.m.
Point Lookout 5:20 a.m. 11:04 a.m. 5:38 p.m. none

67 ° 50 ° 60 ° 39 ° 44 ° 42 ° 57 ° 52 ° 65 ° 50 ° 57 ° 39 °

Sun 7:25 a.m. 4:52 p.m. Moon 11:09 p.m. 11:42 a.m. Venus 8:44 a.m. 6:36 p.m. Mars 5:30 a.m. 3:06 p.m. Jupiter 10:36 a.m. 9:18 p.m. Saturn 9:44 a.m. 7:47 p.m.

Dec 26 Last Quarter

Jan 2 New

Jan 9 First Quarter

Jan 17 Full

0.00" 0.26" 2.72" 43.72" 41.13" 0.0" 0.0"

0.00" 0.05" 2.64" 34.55" 42.58" 0.0" Trace

0.00" 0.28" 2.95" 40.25" 44.24" 0.0" Trace

Blue Ridge: Today, low clouds. Windy this afternoon; a
passing shower in northern parts. High 53 to 57. Winds
west 15–25 mph. Tonight, partly cloudy; low clouds, then
perhaps some clearing in southern parts. Low 46 to 50.
Winds west 15–25 mph.

Atlantic beaches: Today, a passing shower; partly sunny
in the south. High 58 to 66. Winds southwest 10–20 mph.
Tonight, mainly clear. Low 46 to 54. Winds west–southwest
8–16 mph. Sunday, mostly sunny. High 52 to 62. Winds
west–northwest 10–20 mph.

Pollen: Low Grass Low Trees Low Weeds Low Mold Low

UV: Low 1 out of 11+

Air Quality: Moderate Dominant cause: Particulates

68/53

66/54

59/49

64/46

62/46

58/48

65/47

71/54

65/53

64/56

63/54

59/44 58/46

64/44

55/44 67/50 45°

49°

48°

50°

Waterways: Upper Potomac River: Today, mostly cloudy, a passing
shower. Wind southwest 7–14 knots. Waves 2 feet or less. • Lower
Potomac and Chesapeake Bay: Today, clouds giving way to partly
sunny, a passing shower. Wind southwest 7–14 knots. Waves 1–2
feet on the Lower Potomac; 2–4 feet on the Chesapeake Bay.• River
Stages: The stage at Little Falls will be around 2.90 feet today, with
no change of 2.90 Sunday. Flood stage at Little Falls is 10 feet.

Albany, NY 39/34/r 41/24/c Albuquerque 52/42/c 52/29/c Anchorage 23/21/pc 33/32/sh Atlanta 68/59/pc 71/56/pc Austin 83/60/pc 80/62/pc Baltimore 65/47/c 59/34/pc Billings, MT 23/9/sf 13/–9/sn Birmingham 72/60/pc 75/61/pc Bismarck, ND 12/–3/sn 14/3/sn Boise 38/28/sf 33/23/sn Boston 41/34/i 42/29/pc Buffalo 50/34/r 40/28/pc Burlington, VT 35/26/i 32/15/c Charleston, SC 72/57/pc 76/52/s Charleston, WV 65/50/c 57/43/pc Charlotte 68/54/pc 73/48/pc Cheyenne, WY 43/22/s 44/19/sf Chicago 47/30/r 42/38/pc Cincinnati 65/41/c 54/45/pc Cleveland 56/35/r 42/35/pc Dallas 83/59/pc 80/63/s Denver 56/28/s 54/22/pc

Des Moines 47/25/pc 45/34/c Detroit 50/31/r 39/31/pc El Paso 70/54/c 71/48/c Fairbanks, AK 12/11/sn 41/18/sn Fargo, ND 10/–5/sn 17/16/sn Hartford, CT 38/33/i 45/24/pc Honolulu 80/68/pc 80/69/pc Houston 83/67/pc 82/70/pc Indianapolis 60/37/c 50/42/c Jackson, MS 79/62/s 78/65/c Jacksonville, FL 75/55/s 77/54/s Kansas City, MO 56/37/s 60/41/c Las Vegas 57/44/pc 54/38/s Little Rock 78/52/s 74/62/pc Los Angeles 55/48/sh 56/43/s Louisville 72/46/c 61/53/pc Memphis 76/56/s 72/65/pc Miami 80/63/s 80/63/s Milwaukee 42/28/c 39/36/c Minneapolis 24/13/sn 28/24/sn Nashville 73/53/pc 68/60/pc New Orleans 79/62/s 78/64/pc New York City 49/44/r 50/33/pc Norfolk 66/54/pc 62/41/s

Oklahoma City 73/47/pc 81/52/c Omaha 50/27/pc 49/30/c Orlando 79/57/s 78/59/s Philadelphia 58/46/r 53/33/pc Phoenix 64/52/c 63/48/c Pittsburgh 58/37/r 46/32/pc Portland, ME 31/26/sn 34/21/sn Portland, OR 40/32/c 37/20/sn Providence, RI 43/35/r 45/28/pc Raleigh, NC 68/54/pc 71/45/pc Reno, NV 41/29/sn 36/28/sn Richmond 68/53/c 67/37/s Sacramento 49/38/r 48/41/sh St. Louis 65/39/pc 58/52/sh St. Thomas, VI 83/74/sh 83/74/s Salt Lake City 45/37/sf 40/29/sn San Diego 60/53/sh 59/49/pc San Francisco 52/44/r 50/45/r San Juan, PR 84/73/sh 84/73/s Seattle 37/26/c 29/18/sn Spokane, WA 32/22/sn 26/6/sn Syracuse 44/36/r 39/21/sh Tampa 77/62/s 78/62/s Wichita 62/41/s 72/40/c

Addis Ababa 76/51/pc 76/50/s Amsterdam 33/26/s 38/37/c Athens 59/48/c 62/54/c Auckland 80/60/s 80/62/pc Baghdad 58/36/s 58/36/s Bangkok 88/74/pc 87/74/pc Beijing 26/15/s 34/6/s Berlin 26/18/s 28/21/pc Bogota 68/49/c 67/50/c Brussels 41/36/r 46/43/r Buenos Aires 88/69/s 86/71/s Cairo 64/47/s 65/49/s Caracas 75/66/pc 74/65/pc Copenhagen 34/29/s 34/29/pc Dakar 82/72/pc 82/71/pc Dublin 48/43/r 49/39/r Edinburgh 39/34/c 40/37/c Frankfurt 40/32/r 39/37/c Geneva 46/42/r 46/38/r Ham., Bermuda 70/66/c 72/64/pc Helsinki 16/8/s 16/9/pc Ho Chi Minh City 91/75/t 91/75/t

Hong Kong 70/56/pc 61/50/r Islamabad 68/49/c 58/46/r Istanbul 55/49/pc 58/52/c Jerusalem 51/39/s 54/43/s Johannesburg 78/59/t 70/58/t Kabul 53/34/c 48/27/pc Kingston, Jam. 86/76/pc 87/76/pc Kolkata 79/62/pc 80/63/pc Lagos 91/78/pc 90/77/pc Lima 71/63/pc 72/64/s Lisbon 61/55/r 63/57/sh London 47/44/c 50/43/r Madrid 53/49/r 54/52/sh Manila 89/78/pc 87/75/pc Mexico City 76/44/s 75/44/s Montreal 25/24/sn 30/9/c Moscow 24/8/sn 22/8/sn Mumbai 83/70/pc 87/72/pc Nairobi 75/60/t 74/61/r New Delhi 73/57/pc 69/56/c Oslo 23/12/pc 17/1/c Ottawa 25/23/i 28/8/c Paris 49/46/r 50/45/sh Prague 29/12/c 26/24/c

Rio de Janeiro 78/68/s 83/72/s Riyadh 70/57/c 62/50/c Rome 60/51/r 59/50/r San Salvador 86/65/s 87/66/s Santiago 91/60/s 92/61/s Sarajevo 47/41/r 47/42/r Seoul 18/3/s 21/9/s Shanghai 39/26/c 38/25/c Singapore 86/76/t 88/76/t Stockholm 24/16/s 23/16/pc Sydney 82/71/pc 77/65/sh Taipei City 65/56/r 61/55/c Tehran 50/35/s 47/35/s Tokyo 54/34/sh 42/33/c Toronto 44/32/r 37/24/pc Vienna 43/27/r 33/30/c Warsaw 24/13/s 23/11/s

Today Shower

Sunday Partly sunny, breezy

Monday Showers, cooler

Tuesday Cloudy

Wednesday Rain

Thursday Shower

MTuWTh F SaSuMTuWTh F SaSuM Statistics through 5 p.m. Friday

Difference from 30–yr. avg. (Reagan): this month: +4.2° yr. to date: +0.9°

High: Wichita Falls, TX 91° Low: Estcourt Station, ME –21°

World High: Paraburdoo, Australia 113° Low: Oymyakon, Russia –71°

Weather map features for noon today.

WIND:SSW 8–16 mph HUMIDITY:Moderate

CHNCE PRECIP:80%

FEELS*:63°

W: H:

P:

FEELS:57°

NW 10–20 mph Low

0% W: H:

P:

FEELS:40°

E 6–12 mph High

85% W: H:

P:

FEELS:56°

N 4–8 mph Moderate

15% W: H:

P:

FEELS:63°

NE 6–12 mph Moderate

85% W: H:

P:

FEELS:54°

NW 6–12 mph Moderate

60%

The gift of a warm Christmas

There are clouds at times but
perhaps a bit more sun than on
Christmas Eve. A quick shower or
two is possible. South-southwest
breezes may gust near 20 mph as
they help pump in high temperatures in the 60s.
A shower or two remain possible through the
evening as a cold front slips into the area.
Temperatures may drop into the 40s.

The Weather

WASHINGTONPOST.COM/WEATHER. TWITTER: @CAPITALWEATHER. FACEBOOK.COM/CAPITALWEATHER

law enforcement throughout the region. For the next several hours following their arrival, the group relocated to different locations in Montgomery County and then to Prince George’s County as multi- ple agencies partnered together to coordinate a response, including Prince George’s police and Vir- ginia State Police, Picerno said. “We were able to have such a swift response to a lot of the locations. We were able to actually be ahead of them at certain points and be able to prevent them from entering places they wanted to go,” Picerno said. Police have been monitoring racing, especially throughout the nearly two years of the pandemic, which left roadways emptier than usual, Picerno said. The consequences racers can face are case-specific, Picerno said, but can range from a traffic citation, which costs money and could lead to points on a driver’s license and impact their insur- ance, to an arrest. Going forward, Picerno said, police are focused on being proactive and working in collaboration with regional partners, “both from an enforcement and intelli- gence” sharing capacity. Prince George’s County police said several area law enforcement agencies recently partnered to target illegal street racing and car meets. Police said the Dec. 17 oper- ation resulted in four arrests and 169 traffic citations. They said 17 vehicles were impounded. “I don’t want, and I don’t think the community wants, nor does the department want Montgom- ery County or the D.C. region to become the epicenter of these sort of events,” Picerno said. “I think maintaining a proactive and visi- ble presence in all sorts of enforcement is critical to determine effec- tiveness and to give people that sense of security.” [email protected] [email protected]

behavior.” Diane Lundin, 46, a Fairfax County resident near Kingstowne, said she tried to get speed humps installed on her street due to “a speed problem” but didn’t get enough votes to pass the measure, which is part of the county’s proc- ess for traffic calming measures. Lundin, who’s lived in various places throughout Alexandria for the last 15 years, said she didn’t start hearing about speed racing until she moved to the area. Lun- din said the wide-open lot is likely what made the Kingstowne shopping center appealing for the recent gathering of cars. “There’s no barriers or medi- ans; it’s basically like an open circle, if you will, where there is nothing to stop you,” Lundin said. “Until somebody actually does something about [speeding], nothing’s gonna happen. ... What are the action items?” Miles away, in Montgomery County, police said more than 100 cars met up in a Target parking lot in the 12000 block of Cherry Hill Road on Nov. 20 in an incident that spread into Prince George’s County. Officers responded to the scene around 8:45 p.m., “which quickly dissipated the event,” police said. The cars “fled the scene” toward downtown Silver Spring, where officers cleared out the blocked intersections and gave traffic-related citations, police said. Videos on social media showed people with camera equipment taking videos of the cars as they did tricks in the streets downtown. “It definitely gave impressions like a Fast and Furious movie,” said Picerno, the Montgomery County captain. There was one vehicle collision and one arrest for DUI and no injuries were reported, police said. Picerno said police had been tracking the group through the day and coordinating with other

dangerous behavior exhibited in the streets. He said younger people who attend the racing events should have more outlets to show off their cars, such as a car club or show, instead of racing in the parking lots and downtown. “Maybe if they had a place to go like they’ve done in certain states ... and encourage them to go some- where,” Mathieu, 69, said. “There’s nothing out there for these kids.” Neighbors believe the car meets are indicative of a larger speeding issue and said this is not the first time they have heard of these inci- dents. In a Fairfax County Next- door app thread, residents ex- pressed their frustrations over the racers’ loud mufflers and “lawless

ruptive, especially late at night, but this behavior is unacceptable any time.” On public roads, police will enforce traffic laws to address the racing, Krause said. Jacques Mathieu, a Northern Virginia resident who regularly attends sanctioned car meets in which groups have permission to gather, said he knows the kind of “friendship and warmth” that comes out of the camaraderie of bonding over cars and coming together. Mathieu considers himself a “car enthusiast” and has had a love for automobile history for years. But the recent racing events have been “insulting,” Mathieu said, because of the potentially

smoke in parking lots. Drivers were also racing down the street, with much of the footage captured on video on social media, police said. Using a helicopter to monitor where the cars below were going, officers worked to get the crowds moving along, police said. By the time the night was over, about 90 minutes after the gathering start- ed, two minor crashes occurred but there were no injuries, police said. So far, no arrests have been made but the department said officers are “reviewing video and photo evidence.” The event drew complaints from neighbors who live nearby and frequent the shopping center. “I’m more concerned that our shopping centers are starting to look like drag strips when they leave,” one woman said during a community meeting hosted by the Franconia District police station on Nov. 17. “They’re literally defacing it with the rubber burn marks all over the parking lines and also they’re leaving trash be- hind. ... These are shopping centers that are privately owned. And the owners of these shopping centers shouldn’t have to deal with that.” Commander of the Franconia District Station, Capt. James Krause, said police are monitoring the groups to get ahead of them if they plan future events. Police are also talking to property managers to help keep parking lots clear. “They did go to some parking lots and kind of having some reckless behavior where they’re peel- ing out in the parking lot or doing doughnuts. Obviously, that’s dangerous, it’s reckless driving, and, puts people’s safety at risk,” Krause said at the community meeting. “Not to mention the other disturbances, like the fact that it affects the quality of life, the loud, you hear people kind of racing up and down the street. So, it’s dis-

ic, Montgomery County Capt.
Nicholas Picerno said. His depart-
ment recently responded to more
than 100 cars — including some
coming from as far away as New
Jersey, Delaware and southern
Virginia — converged in a Target
parking lot in Silver Spring.
“A lot of time, these could be
pretty benign events. ... It was kind
of a covid-friendly pastime where
you could meet in the parking lot
and kind of show your cars off, be
outside and still interact,” Picerno
said. The concern, however, is “it
wouldn’t take much for an in-
stance like this to go from a kind of
unified rally ... to a violent epi-
sode.”
Earlier this year, Maryland
State Police announced initiatives
to address street racing concerns
after a crash involving several cars
along Interstate 70 around Balti-
more.
Ten days after Maryland State
Police announced the initiative,
which included partnerships with
other local law enforcement and
troopers focused on speeding and
aggressive driving, police said
they issued more than 300 traffic
citations and warnings during a
four-day period. Police said 82 ci-
tations and 22 warnings were
speeding related and one crash
was believed to be related to an
illegal street race.
Regional agencies are develop-
ing similar initiatives.
On Nov. 13, Fairfax County po-
lice said the department respond-
ed to several locations, including
the 4200 block of John Marr Drive,
the 6500 block of Edsall Road and
Kingstowne Towne Center start-
ing just before midnight to reports
of 100 to 200 cars “driving reck-
lessly” as a large crowd gathered
and watched.
The racers were doing burnouts
— spinning cars’ wheels in place —
and doughnuts — spinning cars in
a circle — and kicking up clouds of

STREET RACING FROM B1

Uptick in unruly car meets and street racing disrupt roads and mobilize police

W. WEISMAN Tire marks from cars doing doughnuts mar the Kingstowne Towne Center lot in November in Virginia after an unsanctioned car meet.

“I don’t want, and I don’t think the community

wants, nor does the department want

Montgomery County or the D.C. region to become

the epicenter of these sort of events.” Montgomery County Capt. Nicholas Picerno, on illegal street racing

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The Washington Post - USA (2021-12-25)

B6 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25 , 2021

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