Thundershowers Possible for March on Washington Anniversary

Wednesday's heat index may be near 95 to 100

Those planning to spend the day outside for 50th anniversary of the March on Washington Wednesday should be prepared for likely rain.

Thousands are expected on the National Mall as President Barack Obama and former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter attend the "Let Freedom Ring" ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial.

Those attending will find humid and warm conditions with occasional rain showers from the morning into the afternoon.

Umbrellas are not allowed for ticketholders, so if you've got a ticket, dig out that rain jacket or poncho. However, umbrellas are allowed for everyone else.

Thundershowers are possible between 3 and 9 p.m., said Storm Team 4 Meteorologist Tom Kierein.

Temperatures should peak in the mid-80s in the mid-afternoon.

While that doesn't sound all that hot, the high on the day of the March 50 years ago was only 83 degrees -- and the Red Cross treated about 1,335 people for heat exhaustion.

A 14-year-old girl from Washington, Sylvia Johnson, reportly collapsed near the Lincoln Memorial. A TV cameraman wrapped ice in tissue paper to cool her, and Martin Luther King, Jr., comforted her before she left on a stretcher.

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