As often is the case for the Fourth of July in Washington, the weather has been largely unstable: heat and humidity mixing with occasional showers. We’re now just about a half-hour from the scheduled start of fireworks on the Mall at 9:10 AM, and another wave of showers with some lightning has just finished sweeping the area. Here’s a closeup of our weather radar as of 8:30 PM:

The system that brought us that surprise rain twenty minutes ago is leaving to the northeast, but another system is forming to the west, and seeing that and considering the instability in the local atmosphere, my instinct — coupled with a general disdain for sitting in mud — is to stay indoors rather than go out to join the crowd of fireworks-viewers. But hey, that’s just me. There’s also a chance that system will dissolve into vapor and leave the district dry at 9:10PM, in which case, the show goes on.

Watcha gonna do, DC? If you’re living downtown, you now have under thirty minutes — just enough time to hop on a Metro or dash out to the Mall and maybe make it to a good viewing spot amidst the mass of humanity already there. And hey, if you’re reading this on your mobile device from out on the scene, send us a status report.

Update: Thankfully for those out there, the rain held off! We watched from the safety of a friend’s apartment, and I’ll have a time lapse video ready soon.